THE  RUS SELLS 
^IN  CHICAGOl^ 


EMILY  WHEATON 


THE 
RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO 


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SHE    WILL    NEVER    FORGET    HER    FATHER  S    PER- 
PLEXED   LOOK  "  {SeeMgeisq) 


I  THE  RUSSELLsf 
llN  CHICAGO  I 

I        Emily    Wheaton        ♦ 

?  ♦ 

f  * 

*  Illustratedby  ♦ 

X  Fletcher     C.     Ransom  * 

♦  » 

I  I 


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JCKNO  rVLEDGMENT 

"  Cr'HE  J? USSELLS  IN  CHICAGO  "first 
-^  appeared  in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal. 
The  author  wishes  to  achioivledge  the  courtesy  of 
the  editor  in  permitting  her  to  republish  the  story 
in  its  presetit  form. 

Messrs.  L.  C.  Page  6^  Cofnpany  7vish  also 
to  acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  the  Ladies'  Home 
Journal,  by  which  they  ivere  able  to  arrange 
for  the  use  of  the  original  Illustrations. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


"  She  will  never  forget  her  father's 
PERPLEXED    LOOK"    (See  page    isg) 

Frontispiece 
"  Blowing  all  over  the  table  in  pur- 
suit OF  soot" 23 

The  Auditorium  and  Annex  .        .       27 

Washington  Park  Club  ...       36 

Field  Columbian  Museum  ...  48 
Flower  Beds,  Lincoln  Park  .  .  53 
Studebaker  Building  •  .  .  •  57 
"  Women   flocked   to    hear    him,   and 

worshipped  at  his  feet  "        .         .63 
"  The  men  seemed  to  take  most  kindly 

TO  the  part  of  hosts"  .         .         ,116 
Lake  Shore  Drive  and  Residences     .     141 

Art  Institute 149 

"  In  a  way  that  frightened  the  Eng- 
lish girls  half  to  death  "    .         .     160 
"The  Auditorium  was  crowded"        .     166 
Lake    Shore    Drive   and   Lake    Mich- 
igan      179 

Lilies,  Lincoln  Park  .  .  .  .186 
Chicago  University        ....    238 


THE 

RU  SSELLS 

IN   CHICAGO 

CHAPTER    I. 


i^    the  Russells  were  going  out 
-I    '  '    i^    West  to  live,  there  was  great 


i^^^^  ,HEN  it  was  announced  that 

^-W|| 

WMM^  consternation  among  their 
friends.  "  Out  West  "  in  this  instance 
was  Chicago,  that  land  "  where  they 
ain't  no  ten  commandments,"  according 
to  the  Eastern  idea  of  rehgion  and 
conventionality. 

The  Russells  were  both  born  and 
brought  up  within  the  sacred  confines  of 
Boston,  and  came  from  a  long  line  of 
Puritan  ancestors  that  had  fought,  and 
sometimes  died,  for  the  large  independence 
we  now  enjoy.  The  mothers  on  both 
sides  of  the  family  read  their  titles  clear 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

to  the  Colonial  Dames  and  Daughters  of 
the  American  Revolution.  Their  names 
were  always  on  the  long  line  of  patron- 
esses at  any  particular  social  function  — 
not  because  these  ladies  loved  their  fellow 
man;  no,  indeed,  they  were  much  too 
exclusive  to  love  anything  as  democratic 
as  their  fellow  man,  or  woman. 

Although  brought  up  in  the  most 
refined  and  conservative  atmosphere  pos- 
sible, neither  of  the  Russells  were  what 
is  known  as  "  high  society  people."  They 
did  not  belong  to  the  fast  or  smart  set 
that  exists  even  in  staid  and  sober  Boston ; 
but  they  were  great  social  favourites  in 
the  set  where  they  had  all  known  one 
another  from  childhood,  and  where  it  was 
impossible  for  any  one  from  the  outside 
world  to  enter.  It  was  a  sort  of  Society 
Trust  to  preserve  its  members  from  social 
contamination  with  common  humanity. 

The  Russells  had  been  married  about 
seven  years ;  theirs  had  been  an  unevent- 
ful and  rather  commonplace  life.  Nothing 
much  can  happen  in  such  lives  except 
death,  and  that  was  so  common  that  it 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^: 

would  not  happen  if  the  rules  which  gov- 
erned their  set  could  help  it. 

Alice  Russell,  like  most  American 
young  women,  had  never  travelled  exten- 
sively in  her  own  country,  although  she 
had  been  frequently  abroad  ;  consequently 
Stanley's  explorations  in  Darkest  Africa 
were  not  of  greater  significance  than  a 
journey  west  of  Buffalo.  Chicago  she 
knew  was  on  the  map  somewhere;  she 
remembered  it  only  because  of  the  World's 
Fair.  The  West  to  her  was  a  howl- 
ing wilderness  where  dogs  barked  at 
strangers.  The  only  really  definite  idea 
she  had  of  it  was  from  the  queer  West- 
ern girls  at  Miss  B's  school  in  New  York, 
where  she  had  been  educated.  She  re- 
membered that  these  young  women  were 
always  rich,  generally  overdressed,  and, 
from  her  point  of  view,  loud  and  aggres- 
sive, as  compared  with  the  girls  from 
Boston,  These  girls  from  the  West  were 
ignored  utterly  by  her  and  her  friends; 
and  now,  when  she  thought  she  was  to 
be  thrown  with  women  of  that  type,  it 
seemed  more  than  she  really  could  endure. 
13 


^THE  RUSSELL S  h\  CHICAGO^ 

This  in  itself  was  enough  to  make  her 
courage  fail;  but  when  she  was  told  by 
some  of  her  sympathetic  friends  that 
Chicago  was  the  hotbed  of  Anarchy,  that 
footpads  were  thicker  than  policemen, 
that  crime  in  every  sense  was  rampant  — 
then  did  she  think  that  women  indeed 
gave  great  hostages  to  love  and  matri- 
mony. 

There  had  never  been  any  divine  dis- 
content in  her  life,  that  discontent  that 
broadens  one's  mind  and  keeps  the  heart 
in  a  state  of  sympathetic,  human  softness. 
She  had  known  only  one  side  of  life, 
and  that  was  the  refined,  conservative, 
intellectual  side;  the  rough,  human, 
seamy  side  had  never  come  her  way.  It 
had  been  most  carefully  kept  from  her. 
She  was  tender-hearted  to  the  friends  that 
she  had  known  all  her  life,  sympathetic 
and  loving  to  the  members  of  her  own 
family;  but  to  the  world,  and  to  people 
in  general,  she  was  cold,  unemotional, 
and  most  self-contained.  She  felt  the 
sorrows  of  life  as  she  saw  them  played 
on  the  stage  by  a  good  actor,  but  she 
14 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO-^ 

could  not  express  her  grief;  the  more 
deeply  she  felt  anything  the  colder  and 
stiffer  she  grew.  Like  a  great  many  of 
her  New  England  sisters,  she  suffered 
more  than  half  of  the  time  from  a  severe 
attack  of  indigestion  of  the  emotions. 
She,  no  more  than  her  friends,  realised 
that  her  life  had  by  long-continued  and 
inherited  conventionality,  grown  narrow, 
repressed,  and  ossified. 

Edward  Russell  did  not  take  quite  such 
a  tragic  view  of  life  in  Chicago  as  did 
his  wife,  because,  after  leaving  the  Har- 
vard Law  School,  he  had  gone  to  Chicago 
to  read  law  in  the  office  of  an  old  friend 
of  his  father's.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
he  was  called  back  East  by  the  death  of 
his  father,  and  had  been  obliged  to  re- 
main in  Brookline  with  his  mother. 

He  had  been  inoculated  with  the  virus 
of  the  West,  and  it  had  taken  so  success- 
fully that  he  was  for  ever  weaned  from 
all  Eastern  conventionality  and  conserva- 
tism. He  longed  to  get  back  again  where 
he  had  room  to  grow  and  spread  out ;  he 
loved  the  whole  breezy,  energetic  atmos- 
15 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^: 

phere;  he  felt  the  force  and  strength  of 
the  West,  and  longed  to  plunge  into  the 
thick  of  the  smoke,  the  noise,  and  din  of 
the  battle  of  life.  He  wanted  to  work  off 
the  nervous  strength  of  his  young  man- 
hood. He  knew  and  appreciated  the  sacri- 
fices his  wife  would  have  to  make  in 
leaving  her  family,  her  home,  and  the 
friends  of  her  youth.  Still,  when  this 
splendid  chance  came,  to  be  a  member 
of  the  firm  where  he  first  studied  law  in 
Chicago  with  his  father's  old  friend,  he 
felt  it  to  be  the  chance  of  his  lifetime, 
and  could  not  let  it  go  by  for  sentimental 
reasons  which  he  knew  he  would  always 
regret, 

Ned  Russell  had  painted  Chicago  in  the 
most  glowing  colours  to  please  his  wife, 
and  now  that  they  were  started  on  the 
journey  there,  he  tried  to  cheer  her  by 
saying  he  felt  sure  that  after  she  had 
lived  awhile  in  Chicago  she  would  never 
be  content  to  live  in  the  East  again.  Of 
course  she  knew  this  was  perfectly  absurd, 
but  then  she  realised  that  a  man  could 
not  understand  a  woman's  feeling  about 
i6 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

such  matters,  and  although  she  was  pre- 
pared to  make  many  sacrifices  for  him. 
she  would  never  be  happy,  or  satisfied  to 
live  in  the  West. 

She  grew  tired  of  gazing  out  the 
car  window.  Her  little  boy  had  grown 
restless,  and  the  nurse  was  unable  to 
amuse  him  any  longer.  It  never  occurred 
to  her  to  let  him  play  with  the  other  little 
children  in  the  car,  who  would  have 
amused  him,  and  who  were  running  about 
as  little  children  should.  Instead,  she 
kept  the  nurse  and  the  baby  enclosed  in 
the  narrow  limits  of  her  own  section,  like 
animals  in  a  pen. 

A  thing  she  did  not  understand  was, 
how  her  husband  could  spend  so  much 
time  with  a  lot  of  other  men,  whom  he 
did  not  know,  smoking,  and  talking  with 
them  as  though  they  were  old  friends. 
She  couldn't  help  speaking  to  him  about 
it,  and  was  much  surprised  to  have  him 
say  that  he  neither  knew  nor  cared  much 
wdio  the  men  were;  they  interested  him 
on  the  trip  and  that  was  all  he  wanted. 

Seeing  her  look  of  astonishment,  he 
17 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

said :  "  My  dear,  you  will  have  to  get 
used  to  the  people  in  the  West.  You 
will  find  them  exceedingly  warm-hearted 
and  hospitable,  ready  at  all  times  to  meet 
you  on  the  common  ground  of  good 
fellowship  and  cordiality.  They  don't 
stand  ofif  and  wait  for  formal  introduc- 
tions as  we  do  in  the  East  before  they 
will  speak  to  you." 

One  of  the  men  in  the  smoker  had  told 
a  funny  thing ;  he  said  that  every  time  he 
went  East  he  was  always  delighted  to 
get  back  West  again  just  for  the  sake  of 
exercising  his  voice,  if  for  no  other 
reason,  as  all  conversations  ceased  east 
of  Buffalo,  and  that  you  might  as  well 
be  in  a  deaf  and  dumb  asylum,  where  the 
inmates  wandered  about  the  streets,  as 
to  be  in  Boston;  and  that  in  New  York 
it  was  as  much  as  your  life  was  worth 
to  ask  a  man  on  the  street  for  a  light  for 
your  cigar,  unless  you  presented  your 
card  with  the  name  of  your  club  on  it. 

As  Alice  did  not  have  a  very  keen 
sense  of  humour,  she  failed  to  see  why 


i8 


WtTHE  RUSSELLS  TN  CHICAGO^ 

all  these  very  ridiculous  things  should  be 
so  particularly  amusing  to  her  husband. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  out, 
a  great  cloud  of  smoke  was  seen  off  on 
the  prairie;  it  looked  as  if  there  were  a 
tremendous  fire  in  the  distance.  When 
Alice  called  her  husband's  attention  to 
it,  he  said :  "  Why,  my  dear,  that  is 
Chicago.  We  will  be  there  in  a  little 
while  now." 

"  That  isn't  Chicago,"  she  said;  "  that 
is  a  big  cloud  of  heavy  black  smoke." 

"  Well,  it's  the  same  thing,"  he  replied, 
laughingly.  "  Chicago  and  smoke  are 
synonymous.  Now  all  we  need  is  a  pillar 
of  fire  to  lead  us  to  the  promised  land, 
which  is  to  be  our  future  home ;  we  have 
smoke  enough  already." 

When  the  train  pulled  into  the  station 
at  Chicago  it  was  almost  dark,  although 
it  was  but  three  in  the  afternoon.  The 
electric  lights  were  in  full  force,  and  the 
air  seemed  heavy  and  thick  with  soot, 
the  soot  falling  in  great  flakes  on  the  tip 
of  one's  nose  or  chin,  giving  one  the  ap- 
pearance of  belonging  to  the  army  of  the 
19 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  great  unwashed,"  Everything  looked 
grimy  and  dirty  in  the  murky  atmosphere. 

They  drove  to  the  hotel  at  once, 
through  streets  that  looked  like  dark 
subterranean  cafions,  with  tall  buildings 
looming  up  on  either  side  like  the  walls 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Alice's  heart  fell 
almost  into  her  shoes  as  she  thought,  "  Is 
this  the  place,  this  dirty,  dreary  place,  in 
which  I  am  to  spend  the  rest  of  my  life  ?  " 

When  they  reached  their  hotel,  her 
spirits  began  to  revive  as  she  saw  the 
splendid  building.  She  thought :  "  This 
place  cannot  be  so  altogether  hopeless  if 
they  can  have  a  hotel  as  handsome  as 
this."  They  were  assigned  to  rooms  over- 
looking the  lake,  and  as  the  sun  broke 
through  the  clouds  and  showed  her  how 
beautiful  he  really  could  make  such  a 
gloomy  place,  it  seemed  to  Alice  as  though 
it  were  a  sort  of  welcome  and  promise  to 
her  that  he  at  least  would  do  all  he  could 
to  make  them  like  Chicago  and  be  con- 
tented in  their  Western  home. 

They  took  dinner  in  a  palm  garden 
attached  to  the  hotel,  and  amused  them- 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

selves  by  watching  the  people,  and  getting 
acquainted  with  the  new  conditions  in 
their  lives.  Mr.  Russell  ordered  a  par- 
ticularly good  dinner  as  a  sort  of  cele- 
bration of  their  coming  to  Chicago.  It 
seemed  strange  to  Alice  to  see  how  little 
after  all  the  world  varies.  Here  she  was 
in  Chicago,  listening  to  the  same  tinkling 
music,  sitting  under  the  same  embalmed 
palm-trees,  artificial  and  dusty,  as  they 
always  are  everywhere ;  everything  hav- 
ing the  same  general  effect  as  the  palm 
garden  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  in  New 
York,  or  the  cafe  at  the  Touraine  in 
Boston,  where  the  music  is  always  the 
same,  except  that  the  hotels  in  the  East 
did  look  a  little  brighter  and  cleaner.  Her 
husband  told  her  that  the  hotel  they  were 
stopping  at  was  considered  the  best  hotel 
in  Chicago,  consequently  she  was  rating 
Chicago  according  to  this  hotel. 

Ned  was  very  anxious  that  she  should 
have  good  first  impressions,  and  was 
rather  disgusted  when  the  waiter  served 
an  exceedingly  well-cooked  dinner  in  the 
worst  possible  manner.     The  table  linen 

21 


W:THE  RUSSELL  S  IN  CHIC  AG  OW: 

was  anything  but  fresh  and  spotless,  and 
the  courses  fearfully  mixed.  It  became 
necessary  for  Ned  to  suspend  the  dinner 
while  he  gave  the  waiter  a  few  lessons  in 
serving  it  properly.  This,  as  he  subse- 
quently experienced,  was  Chicago's  great- 
est fault.  He  found  it  almost  impossible 
to  entertain  his  Eastern  friends  fittingly 
outside  of  his  own  home  or  the  club  to 
which  he  belonged. 

The  one  and  only  place  that  ever  had 
been  a  credit  to  Chicago  in  this  way  was 
the  Richelieu,  which  was  said  to  con- 
tain the  finest  wine  cellar  in  the  country, 
and  which  had  been  the  scene  of  some  of 
the  most  remarkable  dinners  ever  given 
anywhere.  Here  it  was  that  the  wit  of 
Henry  Irving,  of  Eugene  Field,  of  Rosina 
Yokes  and  countless  others  flowed  and 
sparkled,  until  the  champagne  turned 
yellow  with  envy  because  it  could  not 
rival  brains  in  brilliancy.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem,  Chicago  could  not  support 
such  a  high-class  restaurant,  so  that  now 
it  is  a  thing  of  past  memories. 

At    the    hotel    where    they    were,    the 


^   b 
o 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

food  prepared  was  most  excellent,  and 
the  restaurant  was  attractive;  but  one 
has  to  be  almost  a  human  bellows  in  order 
to  blow  the  soot  off  the  table  and  the 
dishes.  This,  by  the  way,  is  a  graceful 
pastime  that  by  force  of  habit  has  grown 
to  be  characteristic  of  Chicago  people ;  at 
times  it  is  apt  to  be  most  embarrassing. 
For  instance,  when  one  is  invited  out  to 
dine  with  friends,  a  Chicago  woman,  in  a 
fit  of  absent-mindedness,  is  quite  liable  to 
begin  blowing  all  over  the  table  in  pur- 
suit of  soot,  and  as  if  this  were  not 
enough,  she  immediately  begins  to  wipe 
her  plate,  her  knife  and  forks  for  the 
same  purpose.  The  hotel  where  the  Rus- 
sells  were  was  no  exception  to  this  plague 
of  soft-coal  locusts;  and,  while  the 
cuisine  was  most  satisfactory,  the  other 
requirements  of  a  good  dinner  were  lack- 
ing: good  service,  clean,  fresh  table  ap- 
pointments and  —  they  always  insisted 
upon  serving  toothpicks  with  the  finger- 
bowls,  no  matter  what  your  age  or 
previous  condition  may  have  been. 
Ned  Russell  went  from  one  hotel  to 
23 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

another  tr3dng  to  see  if  conditions  in  some 
of  them  were  not  better,  but  he  found 
them  all  interestingly  bad. 

One  very  popular  hotel  where  the  ser- 
vice was  without  criticism  and  the  chef 
exceptionally  fine,  had  a  most  unique 
way  of  providing  entertainment  for  its 
guests.  A  large  family  of  little  mice, 
thinking  this  hotel  a  very  nice  place 
indeed,  had  established  themselves  and 
their  numerous  relations  in  each  of  the 
sumptuously  decorated  private  dining- 
rooms  which  the  hotel  maintained,  in 
consequence,  a  luncheon  or  dinner  had 
many  startled  interruptions.  Timid  ladies 
were  forced  to  eat  standing  on  chairs, 
generally  with  one  foot  on  the  table  (ac- 
cording to  a  very  old  English  custom  of 
drinking  toasts),  in  their  frantic  endeav- 
our to  get  away  from  the  mice,  who  were 
not  at  all  afraid,  and  tried  in  vain  to 
extend  the  hospitality  of  their  apartment. 
The  men  in  the  meantime  amused  them- 
selves by  throwing  bits  of  food  in  the 
corners  of  the  room,  and  betting  on  the 
first  piece  that  would  be  carried  off. 
24 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO-^ 

While  they  were  eating  dinner  AHce 
became  greatly  interested  in  watching 
the  people  about  her,  especially  a  dinner 
party  at  the  table  opposite.  They  had  the 
hall  mark  of  society  people.  What  im- 
pressed her  most  was  the  feeling  of  inde- 
pendence and  well-poised  social  condition 
of  the  women. 

It  was  a  bit  startling  to  her  when  they 
came  in,  to  see  one  of  the  most  attractive 
of  the  women,  and  certainly  the  most 
aristocratic  looking  one  of  the  party, 
smile,  and  say  good  evening  to  the  waiter 
as  he  stepped  forward  to  take  her  wraps. 
The  look  of  happiness  and  deferential  re- 
spect that  came  into  the  tired  eyes  of 
the  poor  man  was  somewhat  of  a  reve- 
lation to  her.  She  could  not  quite  under- 
stand it,  and  thought  that  here  in  the 
West  there  must  be  a  great  lack  of  social 
and  caste  distinctions,  when  a  woman  of 
such  evident  refinement  could  so  unbend 
and  give  a  thought  or  even  a  glance  to 
a  waiter.  It  seemed  to  her  that  this  must 
be  a  queer  and  interesting  place,  and  she 
almost  wished  she  could  meet  the  hand- 

25 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

some  young  matron  opposite  who  dared 
speak  to  a  waiter  in  public.  She  could 
not  imagine  herself  noticing  a  waiter ;  he 
seemed  so  a  part  of  the  furnishing  of  the 
cafe. 

She  found  herself  rather  fascinated  by 
the  freedom  from  conventionality  of  this 
dinner  party;  there  was  something  so 
genuinely  honest  and  happy  about  their 
enjoyment.  They  laughed  as  though 
they  really  enjoyed  laughing  and  were 
having  a  jolly  time  among  themselves. 
Ned,  noticing  her  interest,  said :  "  Now 
that,  my  dear,  is  the  way  people  enjoy 
themselves  in  the  West.  They  let  go  and 
have  a  good  time.  Honestly,  Alice,  it 
seems  fine  to  get  back  here  again,  and  I 
know  that  before  long  you  will  like  it 
too." 

When  the  waiter  brought  the  check  for 
their  dinner,  Ned  said :  "  Well,  if  this 
isn't  the  cheapest  place  to  live  that  I  ever 
saw.  In  New  York  or  Boston  this  dinner 
would  have  cost  nearly  twice  as  much. 
And  do  you  know  why?  These  people 
out  here  give  enough  in  one  portion  to  do 
26 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

for  two,  whereas  in  the  East  the  samples 
of  food  that  one  gets  as  one  portion  are 
scarcely  enough  to  keep  one's  astral  body- 
alive.  I  remember  now  that  I  used  to 
find  it  much  cheaper  to  live  in  the  West." 

After  dinner  they  walked  through  a 
marble  tunnel  that  led  from  one  part  of 
the  hotel  to  another.  This,  too,  was  a 
characteristic  thing ;  instead  of  going  out- 
side and  stepping  directly  across  the 
street,  the  Chicago  spirit  in  its  lavishness 
had  built  a  marble  tunnel  connecting  with 
two  hotels  in  order  to  save  guests  the 
inconvenience  of  going  outside. 

It  happened  to  be  Saturday  night, 
and  as  the  Russells  watched  the  people 
coming  in  to  the  Thomas  concerts  they 
were  immensely  entertained.  Alice  was 
a  little  surprised  to  see  so  many  well- 
dressed  and  stunning-looking  women  who 
from  outward  appearances  seemed  quite 
the  equal  of  some  of  her  ow^n  friends  in 
the  East.  The  g-owns  worn  by  the 
women,  instead  of  being  "  cut  out  by  a 
circular  saw,"  all  bore  the  stamp  of  hav- 


27 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

ing  been  made  by  artists;  and  as  a  rule 
the  women  wore  their  clothes  well. 

Alice  was  much  too  weary  to  attend  the 
concert,  so  she  and  Ned  contented  them- 
selves with  inspecting  the  vast  theatre 
from  the  hotel,  of  which  it  is  a  part.  She 
was  much  interested  in  it,  and  thought  it 
the  most  convenient  way  of  taking  one's 
pleasures  that  she  had  ever  seen.  In- 
stead of  going  home,  if  home  happened 
to  be  any  distance,  a  man  and  his  wife 
could  have  their  evening  clothes  sent  in 
to  the  hotel,  take  a  room,  have  dinner, 
go  to  the  opera  or  concert,  meet  friends, 
and  have  a  supper  party,  all  without  going 
outside  of  the  hotel. 

But  she  was  tired  from  her  long 
journey,  and  a  fearful  depression  had 
taken  possession  of  her;  she  felt  in  her 
heart  that  she  never  would  be  contented 
in  Chicago.  She  knew  that  she  would 
never  be  able  to  assimilate  her  ideas  with 
those  of  the  West,  and  having  that  canker 
that  eats  upon  the  heart  and  brain,  a  New 
England  conscience,  it  seemed  to  her  as 
though  she  must  tell  her  husband,  before 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

it  was  too  late,  that  hard  as  it  would  be 
for  him,  she  would  much  rather  go  back 
East,  and  be  content  with  life  there,  than 
to  stay  here  in  the  West  for  greater 
financial  results. 


29 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^. 


CHAPTER    11. 

FTER  thinking  the  matter 
over  for  several  days  and  a 
few  sleepless  nights,  Alice 
®^^^i§  ™ade  up  her  mind  to  try  to 
stand  the  West  for  a  year.  At  the  end 
of  that  time,  and  after  giving  Chicago 
a  fair  trial,  if  she  did  not  like  it  she 
would  feel  that  she  was  entitled  to  return 
East,  where  at  least  she  could  be  happy. 

As  the  days  went  by,  Ned's  friends, 
who  had  married  and  settled  in  Chicago, 
began  to  call,  and  welcomed  them  most 
cordially.  They  were  soon  overwhelmed 
with  invitations  to  dinners  and  other 
social  festivities. 

The  free,  open-hearted  hospitality  of 
these  Western  people  was  a  revelation  to 
her;  she  had  never  seen  anything  like  it. 
They  seemed  to  take  everybody  on  faith 
out  here.  There  was  no  fuss  or  formality 
about  society  at  all.  They  either  liked 
you,  or  they  didn't  like  you.  If  they  did, 
30 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

nothing  was  too  good  for  you  that  they 
could  do;  if  they  didn't  happen  to  hke 
you,  you  were  let  alone,  that  was  all. 

The  Russells  were  asked  to  dine  with 
their  friends  as  a  matter  of  course;  and 
an  invitation  to  dinner  was  given  as 
simply  and  as  cordially  as  an  invitation 
to  an  afternoon  cup  of  tea.  But  when 
the  dinner  was  served,  it  made  Alice 
marvel  that  anything  so  elaborate  was 
taken  as  a  matter  of  course,  with  an  utter 
absence  of  effort.  She  soon  found  that  in 
the  West  the  women  all  seemed  to  possess 
that  delightful  faculty  of  ease  in  entertain- 
ing that  w^as  a  constant  surprise  to  her. 
An  invitation  to  an  "  informal  family 
dinner  "  to  her  meant,  of  course,  one  of 
her  own  New  England  boiled  dinners  of 
corned  beef  and  vegetables,  the  only  re- 
past where  you  ever  get  into  the  real  heart 
of  New  England  people.  At  their  other 
dinner  parties  one  is  apt  to  sit  with  cold 
feet  under  the  table,  and  a  congested  brain 
above.  Not  so  in  the  West;  here  the 
blood  is  warmed  with  human  kindness, 
and  it  is  not  always  the  milk  of  human 
31 


W-.THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

kindness  either,  which  is  apt  to  curdle  at 
times,  especially  during  a  human  thunder- 
storm. This  profuse  Western  hospitality 
rather  grated  upon  her  after  awhile;  it 
was  not  quite  exclusive  enough  to  meet 
her  requirements  of  what  the  best  society 
should  be.  For  example,  it  was  a  bit 
unusual  for  her  to  sit  at  a  dinner  with 
a  woman  who,  as  she  knew,  worked  on  a 
newspaper.  She  had  nothing  in  common 
with  such  people  socially.  To  be  sure, 
she  would  help  them  if  they  were  in 
trouble,  but  there  really  was  a  social  dif- 
ference that  these  Western  folk  seemed 
not  to  respect,  and  for  this  reason  she 
hesitated  to  accept  the  many  invitations 
that  were  showered  upon  them.  Ned, 
with  rare  good  sense,  tried  to  make 
amends  for  his  wife's  coldness,  and  in  part 
atoned  for  her  lack  of  tact  and  enthusiasm. 
There  were  many  things  about  society 
life  in  Chicago  that  offended  Alice  Rus- 
sell's strict  sense  of  propriety  and  con- 
ventionality. Such  things  as  chaperons 
were  apparently  unknown.  Young  girls 
came  to  dances,  went  to  theatres,  did  al- 
32 


W^THE  RUS  SELLS  IN  CHIC  AG  O-^ 

most  everything,  in  fact,  that  they  pleased 
to  do,  with  such  an  air  of,  "  I  can  do 
no  wrong,"  that  it  seemed  quite  lawless 
yet  proper,  although  Alice  did  not  ap- 
prove of  it  in  the  least.  In  talking  over 
this  state  of  affairs  with  a  young  woman 
she  met,  and  liked  rather  better  than  the 
majority  of  the  girls  she  had  seen  in 
society,    she   said : 

"  My  dear,  I  do  not  understand  the 
liberty  you  girls  are  given  here  in  the 
West.  You  go  out  alone  with  men,  and 
seem  to  have  no  restrictions  whatever." 

"  Well,"  answered  her  friend,  "  we 
don't  do  anything  very  bad,  do  we  ?  We 
only  do  the  things  that  you  do." 

"  Oh,  that  is  quite  a  different  matter," 
answered  Alice,  "  I  am  married." 

"  Well,"  answered  the  honest,  breezy 
Western  girl,  "  it's  not  my  fault  that  I'm 
not  married.  I've  been  trying  for  a  long 
time,  but  in  the  meantime  I  must  live,  you 
know." 

This  was  too  much,  so  she  gave  the 
young  girl  problem  up  as  hopeless.  Kn- 
other  thing  that  rather  surprised  her  was 
33 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

the  absence  of  many  social  sets.  She 
soon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Chicago 
was  the  most  democratic  city  she  ever 
knew.  It  was  the  easiest  thing  in  the 
world  to  get  in  among  the  very  best 
people.  All  a  stranger  had  to  do  in 
order  to  make  her  presence  felt  socially 
was  to  go  to  a  certain  fashionable  hotel, 
secure  an  expensive  suite  of  rooms,  wear 
stunning  clothes,  study  a  good  grammar, 
be  careful  not  to  put  her  knife  in  her 
mouth  or  leave  her  spoon  standing  in 
her  cup  when  at  the  table;  and  above 
all  things,  refrain  from  taking  a  tooth- 
pick when  the  waiter  offers  it.  Years  of 
endeavour  toward  a  strenuous  social  life 
have  been  ruined  by  a  moment's  absence 
of  mind  in  regard  to  toothpicks.  This 
rule  holds  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the 
West,  however. 

Alice  soon  found  that  golf,  like 
Charity,  "  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins." 
The  oftener  that  she  and  Ned  were  enter- 
tained at  the  country  clubs,  the  more  she 
became  convinced  that  it  was  easier  for 
that  poor  old  camel  to  get  through  the 
34 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

eye  of  a  needle  than  to  try  to  live  without 
golf  in  Chicago.  There  is  little  hope  of 
ever  being  the  real  thing  socially  unless 
one  can  read  his  title  clear  to  at  least  one 
country  club.  No  church  affiliation,  or 
ancestors  even,  can  do  for  you  what  golf 
can  in  the  social  ascent  of  man.  There 
certainly  is  nothing  on  earth  to  talk  about 
all  summer  long  at  these  country  clubs 
but  golf  and  "  the  eternal  feminine."  One 
day  Alice  heard  a  clever  woman  say  that 
"  every  time  a  brassy  drove  a  high  ball, 
a  woman's  reputation  struck  a  bunker 
that  left  it  black  and  blue  for  the  rest  of 
her  Hfe." 

At  one  of  those  clubs  Alice  found  more 
of  a  visible  effort  to  maintain  that  atmos- 
phere of  exclusive  charm,  so  dear  to  the 
socially  elect,  than  at  any  of  the  others, 
and  she  had  seen  them  all.  The  Saddle 
and  Cycle  Club  she  more  thoroughly 
enjoyed  than  any  of  the  others,  as  she 
was  not  a  particularly  ardent  golf  player, 
and  here  the  location  was  so  beautiful  that 
it  was  a  constant  delight,  situated  as  it 
is  on  the  edge  of  glorious  Lake  Michigan. 
35 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

Everything  about  this  little  gem  of  a 
club  was  ideal.  The  view  of  the  lake 
from  the  piazzas,  the  wooded  grounds 
about  the  place,  made  it  the  most  attract- 
ive and  artistic  country  club  she  had 
ever  seen;  and  here  it  was  she  loved  to 
come  and  spend  long  summer  afternoons, 
or  at  night  sit  in  the  moonlight  and  listen 
to  the  music  of  the  waters.  The  small 
membership  of  this  club  made  it  more 
quiet  and  restful  than  the  others,  and 
she  always  looked  upon  it  as  the  one 
bright  spot  in  Chicago  to  her.  The 
Washington  Park  Club  was  all  that  she 
imagined  a  Western  club  would  be,  con- 
sequently it  did  not  appeal  to  her.  It 
was  too  democratic  and  horsey.  The 
Midlothian  was  very  pleasant,  but 
quite  too  far  away  for  comfort.  Ned 
liked  the  Glen  View  Club,  as  there  was 
a  jolly  crowd  of  people  there  who  were 
friends ;  but  Alice  decided  that  she  much 
preferred  either  Wheaton  or  Onwentsia, 
and  of  those  two,  she  much  preferred  On- 
wentsia, as  the  life  at  Wheaton  seemed 
a  bit  too  gay  for  her.  In  a  moment  of 
36 


W-.THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

unconscious  humour  she  made  a  remark 
to  a  mutual  friend,  who  lost  no  time  in 
repeating  it  to  every  one  that  came  in 
sight.  Alice  had  been  discussing  the 
relative  merits  of  the  different  clubs,  and 
said  to  her  friend,  in  the  most  innocent 
manner :  "  No,  I  don't  think  I  should  like 
Wheaton ;  I  should  always  feel  as  if 
I  had  to  get  some  skates  on  to  keep  up 
with  them.  We  don't  do  that  way  in  the 
East,  you  know." 

At  Onwentsia  there  was  at  all  times  the 
air  of  "  li^e  are  the  very  best  people  that 
ever  happened."  and  as  the  very  best  out 
West  was  none  too  good,  in  the  opinion 
of  Mrs.  Russell,  she  thought  they  might 
as  well  be  associated  with  the  Onwentsia 
Club.  To  be  sure,  the  links  were  not 
nearly  so  good  as  at  Wheaton ;  but  some- 
thing had  to  be  sacrificed,  so  why  not 
the  golf  links?  They  only  interfered  with 
a  nice  walk,  anyway.  Besides,  here  they 
were  on  the  sacred  borders  of  Lake  For- 
est, one  of  the  most  fashionable  suburbs 
of  Chicago.  That  in  itself  compensated 
for  a  good  many  other  things. 
37 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

The  next  question  of  vital  importance 
was  where  they  should  live.  It  had  been 
impossible  for  Ned  Russell  to  get  away 
from  town,  owing  to  the  large  amount  of 
business  his  firm  had  on  hand  to  settle; 
so  they  had  taken  rooms  at  the  Onwentsia 
Club  for  the  summer,  and  Alice  had  really 
been  quite  comfortable  there,  although 
she  held  herself  aloof  from  people  in  a 
way  that  made  her  anything  but  popular. 
This  was  exceedingly  embarrassing  for 
Ned  Russell,  who  was  naturally  one 
of  the  most  lovable  of  men.  Every  one 
liked  him,  and  Alice  was  making  life  very 
disagreeable  for  him.  He  tried  to  make 
her  see  things  in  their  right  light;  that 
she  must  not  be  so  cold  and  reserved  with 
the  people  whom  she  met;  but  it  was 
hopeless.  She  said  she  was  quite  satis- 
fied to  live  her  way,  alone  with  her  child ; 
she  didn't  like  the  ways  of  the  women  who 
were  spending  the  summer  at  the  club; 
in  fact,  he  knew  she  didn't  care  much  for 
Western  people  anyway,  and  didn't  see 
why  she  should  trouble  herself  about 
them.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  let 
38 


W^.THE  RUS SELLS  L¥  CHICAGO^ 

her  live  her  hfe  her  own  way,  and  try 
to  make  the  best  of  it,  which  Ned  did. 

The  only  woman  that  Ahce  at  all  fan- 
cied, or  cared  to  know  at  all  well,  was 
Mrs.  Naylor,  the  w^oman  she  had  so  ad- 
mired, and  the  one  that  spoke  to  the  waiter 
at  dinner  that  first  night  the  Russells  were 
in  Chicago.  Much  as  Alice  liked  Mrs. 
Naylor,  wdio  was  one  of  the  social  lead- 
ers, and  a  woman  that  every  one  admired, 
still,  she  met  her  in  the  same  cold,  frosty 
way  she  met  every  one.  Alice  Russell 
simply  had  no  power  of  expression.  She 
had  never  cultivated  it,  and  really  did  not 
know  whether  she  had  it  or  not. 

The  Naylors  were  exceedingly  kind  to 
Ned  and  Alice,  having  them  for  dinner 
to  meet  friends,  and  in  many  other  ways 
making  life  pleasant.  With  all  of  Mrs. 
Naylor's  dignity  and  social  attainments, 
she  was  a  most  sympathetic  woman,  and 
one  of  great  personal  magnetism ;  abso- 
lutely honest,  with  a  contempt  for  shams 
and  social  snobbishness  most  unusual  in 
a  young  woman.  She  and  her  husband 
were  devoted  to  each  other,  and  to  their 
39 


^i^.THE  RUS SELLS  LY  CHICAGO;^ 

children.  They  had  the  utmost  confi- 
dence in  each  other,  and  gave  all  the  lib- 
erty necessary  for  his  or  her  happiness. 
In  consequence,  their  married  life  was 
ideally  harmonious  and  contented.  Mrs. 
Naylor  had  no  end  of  men  friends,  who 
openly  expressed  their  devotion  to  her, 
so  much  so  that  Alice  did  not  at  all  ap- 
prove of  her  in  this  regard.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  were  many  other  things  about 
the  young  Chicagoan  that  fascinated  Alice 
so  that  she  never  could  quite  make  up 
her  mind  whether  she  disliked  Mrs.  Nay- 
lor very  much  indeed,  or  was  exceedingly 
fond  of  her. 

To  Lily  Naylor,  it  was  a  matter  of  the 
most  supreme  indifference  what  Mrs.  Rus- 
sell thought;  she  had  tried  her  best  to  be 
a  friend  to  her,  as  she  was  a  stranger  in 
a  strange  land,  but  all  her  efforts  in  the 
line  of  friendship  had  been  received  in 
such  a  cold,  formal  manner  that  she  de- 
cided that  Mrs.  Russell  had  ice-water  in 
her  veins  instead  of  warm  blood.  Be- 
sides, she  was  rather  tired  of  hearing 
about  the  East,  about  the  way  they  did 
40 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

things  in  Boston,  and  the  "  difference  be- 
tween the  West  and  the  East."  All  this 
failed  to  impress  Mrs.  Naylor,  who  had 
spent  the  greater  part  of  her  life  in  New 
York,  as  it  failed  to  impress  the  other 
women  who  called  upon  Mrs.  Russell  and 
tried  to  be  civil  to  her.  In  consequence 
of  this  manner,  the  Russells  were  asked 
about  purely  on  the  merits  of  Ned  Russell, 
whom  every  one  loved.  Mrs.  Russell  was 
left  to  take  care  of  herself  as  best  she 
could,  the  women  being  out  of  patience 
with  trying  to  be  kind  to  her.  So  matters 
went  on  through  the  summer. 

The  first  clouds  that  had  come  during 
their  married  life  were  beginning  to  grow 
darker,  and  more  threatening  to  their 
peace.  If  Alice  did  not  care  to  accept 
the  invitations  extended  to  them,  Ned 
humoured  her  by  staying  with  her,  until 
it  grew  to  be  exceedingly  monotonous. 
To  be  sure,  Alice  had  never  been  very 
strong,  but  she  was  perfectly  equal  to  go- 
ing where  she  wanted  to  go,  he  noticed. 
After  giving  in  to  her  for  some  time  on  the 
ground  of  her  ill  health,  he  decided  that, 
41 


mTHE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHLCAGO^ 

if  she  did  not  want  to  cast  her  lot  with 
these  friends  of  his.  he  did,  and  he  began 
going  about  alone,  where  it  would  not 
reflect  too  much  on  her.  He  loved  her 
dearly,  but  was  thoroughly  out  of  pa- 
tience with  the  way  she  was  acting  in 
the  West,  where  every  one  had  been  so 
kind  to  them  and  where  their  home 
was  to  be.  He  appreciated  these  people. 
Their  warmth  of  heart  and  cordial  friend- 
ship appealed  to  him  more  than  all  the 
population  of  Massachusetts  ever  could, 
and  it  disgusted  him  that  Alice  could  not 
let  down  the  barriers  that  bound  her  na- 
ture so  tightly,  and  thaw  out  to  these 
women  who  were  trying  to  show  their 
friendship  for  her. 

Things  went  from  bad  to  worse  be- 
tween them,  and  by  the  time  that  the  end 
of  the  summer  was  reached,  Alice  and 
Ned  were  about  as  far  apart  as  two 
people  who  have  loved  each  other  can 
drift.  It  was  time  for  them  to  decide 
what  they  should  do  for  the  winter,  and 
while  they  were  looking  at  life  from  two 
entirely  different  points  of  view,  they 
42 


W-.rilE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO-^ 

were  both  much  too  well  bred  to  let  the 
world  know  that  they  were  not  in  perfect 
harmony  and  understanding.  Even  to 
themselves  they  maintained  a  calm  that 
is  more  killing  and  deadly  than  the  fierc- 
est tempest.  They  were  thousands  of 
miles  apart.  No  one  knew  it  but  them- 
selves, and  they  would  not  admit  it  to 
each  other  even  should  the  occasion  de- 
mand it;  which  is  another  trait  of  the 
deep  down  intensity  of  the  New  England 
character. 

While  they  were  debating  what  they 
should  do,  whether  or  not  Alice  should 
take  little  Dick  and  go  back  to  Boston 
until  after  Christmas,  a  letter  came  from 
Alice's  aunt,  Miss  Emily  Everett,  saying 
that  she  was  coming  to  America  for  a 
long  visit  to  her  relatives,  but  more 
especially  to  see  Alice,  Ned,  and  little 
Dick,  whom  she  had  never  seen,  as  she 
had  gone  abroad  shortly  after  Alice  was 
married.  Alice's  mother  had  died  when 
Alice  was  but  seventeen  years  old,  leav- 
ing the  latter  to  the  care  of  her  own  older 
sister.  Miss  Everett  had  never  failed  in 
43 


^TIIE  RUS  SELLS  LN  CHIC  AG  Ow. 

the  trust  that  her  sister  put  in  her,  and 
it  was  only  after  AHce  was  married  that 
Miss  Everett  returned  to  her  friends  in 
Italy,  where  she  had  always  hoped  to 
spend  the  remaining  years  of  her  life. 
She  had  loved  Alice  as  her  own  daughter, 
although  it  was  a  constant  disappoint- 
ment to  her  that  her  niece  was  not  more 
affectionate  and  warm-hearted.  Still  she 
admired  her  for  her  great  refinement  and 
inborn  distinction,  and  loved  her  because 
she  was  her  dead  sister's  only  child,  the 
only  near  tie  she  had  left  in  her  own 
family. 

Ned  Russell  was  particularly  fond  of 
Aunt  Emily  Everett.  They  had  always 
been  the  best  of  friends,  and  he  was  more 
than  pleased  that  she  was  coming  to  visit 
them,  as  he  thought  she  would  clear  away 
the  clouds  that  were  darkening  his  life 
and  that  of  his  wife.  He  had  implicit 
faith  in  her,  as  she  had  been  a  woman  of 
the  world  in  the  best  sense.  She  had  been 
a  great  belle  in  Boston  society  in  the  days 
when  there  was  an  intellectual  brilliancy 
there  that  has  left  its  imprint  upon  the 
44 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

literature  of  the  world.  She  had  had 
many  chances  to  get  married  and  fill  the 
high  social  position  that  was  hers  by  right 
of  inheritance  and  education,  but  she  had 
had  her  romance,  and  her  heart  was  buried 
in  the  grave  of  a  Southern  officer.  She 
was  one  of  the  few  women  who  had  the 
strength  to  grow  old,  and  still  be  faith- 
ful to  a  memory. 

The  coming  of  Aunt  Emily  decided  the 
Russells  to  look  for  a  house  at  once,  so 
that  it  would  be  ready  by  the  time  she 
arrived  in  Chicago;  but  where  to  go  was 
the  vital  question.  From  all  Alice  could 
hear  there  was  only  one  part  of  Chicago 
that  was  at  all  habitable,  and  that  was  the 
North  Side.  She  was  told  that  one  might 
as  well  go  and  live  among  "  the  sub- 
merged tenth,"  or  in  the  slums,  as  to  live 
on  the  West  Side ;  that  nobody  lived  there 
or  ever  had  been  known  to  live  there.  If 
they  did  they  never  told  it  where  any 
one  from  the  North  Side  could  hear  it. 
There  were  some  old  settlers,  she  was 
told,  who  had  lived  over  on  the  West  Side 
before  the  great  fire,  but  they  had  been 
45 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

purified  and  tried  by  fire  with  a  vengeance. 
They  lost  everything  they  had  in  the 
world,  and  were  now,  in  this  their  other 
incarnation,  worthy  to  live  among  the 
elect  on  the  North  Side.  Of  course  this 
settled  the  West  Side  of  town.  Then  they 
thought  of  looking  for  a  house  on  the 
South  Side,  as  the  transportation  on  the 
Illinois  Central  was  so  much  quicker  and 
better  than  anything  on  the  North  Side. 
Ned  thought  it  much  more  to  their  ad- 
vantage to  live  somewhere  within  easy 
reaching  distance  of  his  office;  but  their 
friends  at  Onwentsia  wouldn't  listen  to 
that  at  all.  While  no  one  particularly 
gave  a  hang  where  Alice  Russell  lived, 
still  every  woman  felt  in  duty  bound  to  tell 
Alice  her  views  on  the  subject  of  a  loca- 
tion of  a  home.  It  was  too  good  a  chance 
to  let  go  by  for  the  practice  of  stone 
throwing  at  what  is  called  society,  —  a 
little  athletic  exercise  that  all  women  love, 
especially  if  they  are  not  in  the  particular 
set  that  is  up  for  a  target. 

So  Alice  was  told  that  the  South  Side 
was  almost  as  hopeless  as  the  West.    To 
46 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGOh 


be  sure,  they  had  the  World's  Fair  over 
there;  some  of  the  North  Side  natives 
went  over  for  that,  but  they  never  had 
been  there  since.  "The  Old  Kentucky 
Home,"  otherwise  known  as  the  Chicago 
Beach  Hotel,  always  kept  up  a  thriving 
business  in  hops,  barbecues,  and  things, 
that  were  regularly  written  up  in  the 
society  columns  of  the  Sunday  papers, 
but  even  these  attractions  could  not  keep 
up  the  high  standard  as  a  place  of  resi- 
dence that  high  society  demanded. 

Alice  had  heard  of  the  Chicago  Uni- 
versity, and  thought  naturally  that  the 
location  around  this  great  seat  of  learn- 
ing would  be  like  her  own  Cambridge, 
and  that  here  she  might  find  people  more 
suited  to  her  taste,  in  the  families  of  the 
professors;  but  no  one  seemed  to  know 
anything  about  these  distinguished  men 
and  women.  The  Chicago  University  to 
the  average  person  in  Chicago  is  Doctor 
Harper.  If  any  one  north  of  the  Chicago 
River,  which  is  the  IMason  and  Dixon 
line,  ever  gives  a  thought  to  the  power 
behind  Doctor  Harper's  throne  that  keeps 
47 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

the  wheels  of  the  Chicago  University- 
going,  they  never  say  anything  about  it, 
because  one  scarcely  ever  meets  any  of 
the  splendid  members  of  the  University 
set  north  of  the  river.  Alice  could  not 
understand  this,  for  in  Boston  the  Har- 
vard set  is  eagerly  sought  after. 

Then  she  inquired  about  the  Field 
Columbian  Museum.  That  she  thought 
might  be  well  worth  living  near,  as  it 
would  be  of  such  benefit  to  little  Dick  as 
he  grew  older.  But  again  her  friends  could 
give  her  little  explanation.  One  woman, 
who  sat  on  the  club  piazza  making  up 
her  golf  score,  was  asked  what  she  knew 
about  the  Field  Columbian  Museum,  as 
she  had  lived  in  Chicago  longer  than  the 
others.  She  replied  :  "  Oh,  I  don't  know. 
You  mean  that  building  way  down  on 
the  South  Side,  don't  you?  I've  never 
been  there,  but  I  believe  that  Marshall 
Field  has  something  to  do  with  it.  It 
may  be  an  annex  to  his  store  for  all  I 
know."  Then  some  other  woman  who 
spent  most  of  her  time  reading  "  Caven- 
dish   on    Whist,"     suggested    that    she 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHLCAGO^ 

"  thought  maybe  it  had  something  to  do 
with  Eugene  Field,  a  memorial  or  some- 
thing;   she  didn't  know,  though." 

After  all  of  this,  there  seemed  nothing- 
left  for  the  Russells  to  do  but  to  try  to 
get  a  house  on  the  North  Side.  They 
found  that  the  rents  were  a  good  deal 
higher  there,  which  is  generally  a  sure 
indication  that  real  estate  agents  know 
which  is  the  best  part  of  town  to  live 
in  from  a  social  point  of  view.  These 
same  agents  gave  them  a  long  list  of  the 
many  advantages  to  be  derived  from 
living  even  within  bowing  distance  of  the 
Lake  Shore  Drive.  Apparently  no  one 
worth  a  moment's  thought  lived  on  either 
the  West  or  South  Side,  and  consequently 
it  was  something  of  a  mental  shock, 
some  months  later,  to  find  that  among 
all  the  women  she  had  met  in  Chicago, 
and  liked  the  most  for  their  mental  at- 
tainments, earnestness  of  purpose  and 
real  refinement  of  manner,  were  women 
from  the  "  impossible  South  and  West 
Sides  of  town."  What  is  more,  after  she 
became  acquainted  with  the  city,  and 
49 


W'.THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

went  about,  she  often  regretted  that  they 
had  not  settled  on  the  South  Side  of  town, 
as  Hyde  Park,  Englewood,  and  some  of 
the  other  suburbs  were  so  beautiful,  and 
—  of  infinitely  greater  importance  —  the 
matter  of  transportation  was  worth  more 
than  every  other  consideration.  One 
could  always  get  a  seat  in  the  train,  and 
the  cars  were  always  well  heated,  well 
ventilated,  and  clean. 

The  South  Side,  as  she  found,  had 
many  advantages  over  the  North  Side,  so- 
cially and  every  other  way.  It  might  really 
be  called  the  literary  side  of  Chicago. 
Literature  may  or  may  not  count  for 
much  in  the  making  of  a  city,  but,  like 
ancestors,  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  in  the 
family.  To  Alice  it  meant  a  good  deal ; 
not  that  she  was  particularly  literary,  but 
she  had  always  been  brought  up  to  have  a 
great  respect  for  the  aristocracy  of  brains 
as  well  as  of  family ;  and  when  she  found 
that  the  Twentieth  Century  Club  was  an 
institution  composed  mainly  of  South 
Side  people,  she  was  greatly  disappointed, 
as  it  was  just  the  kind  of  club  that  she 
so 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

would  like  to  join ;  especially  as  it  was 
purely  literary  in  tone,  and  always  enter- 
tained all  the  disting-uished  men  and 
women  of  arts  and  letters  that  came  to 
this  country,  or  to  Chicago.  To  be  sure, 
her  North  Side  friends  told  her  that  it  was 
terribly  slow ;  in  fact  some  of  them  went 
so  far  as  to  say  that  it  was  a  whole  cen- 
tury behind ;  but  that  she  found  out  later 
was  only  a  different  point  of  view  in  re- 
gard to  time.  Without  exception  all  the 
literary  clubs  met  on  the  South  Side,  a 
fact  that  the  people  south  of  the  Mason 
and  Dixon  line  never  ceased  to  impress 
upon  their  more  haughty  North  Side 
rivals. 

This  rivalry  Alice  found  out  later  was 
all  on  the  surface,  because  when  it  came 
to  a  point  of  proving  friendship,  there 
was  no  North  or  South  Side.  These 
women  of  the  West,  with  their  great, 
kind  hearts,  and  generosity  of  faithful, 
devoted  friendship,  knew  no  such  thing  as 
location  or  neighbourhood.  No  distance 
was  ever  too  far  to  go  to  see  a  friend  in 
sickness  or  in  trouble.  It  was  only  in 
SI 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

times  of  peace  that  there  was  this  merry 
war  of  social  position.  At  heart  they 
were  all  on  common  ground.  But  some 
crowd  of  people  had  to  make  itself  ex- 
clusive for  the  sake  of  future  genera- 
tions. 


52 


^ATHE  RUSSELLS  IX  CHICAGO^ 


CHAPTER    III. 

fe?i|FIE  Rnssells  at  last  secured  a 
jj  r^-^  i^ii'^  house  Oil  the  North  Side, 
^i  -^  j^  below  Lincoln  Park,  where 
fi-^^MS  ^^om  a  corner  window  they 
had  a  most  glorious  view  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan. The  furnishing  of  the  house  took 
Alice  about  the  city  a  good  deal.  It 
seemed  to  her  that  the  women  whom  she 
met  on  the  street  were  hopelessly  com- 
monplace, and  were  lacking  in  that  well- 
groomed,  thoroughbred  air  that,  no  mat- 
ter how  plain  a  woman  may  be,  causes 
her  to  stand  out  from  among  her  sisters. 
Here  in  Chicago  all  the  women  were  in 
a  rush,  with  heads  down,  making  a  des- 
perate effort  to  get  somewhere  in  a  hurry. 
Every  nerve  and  muscle  was  on  an  intense 
strain.  It  looked  as  though  what  w^as 
called  "  the  bicycle  face  "  had  grown  to 
be  a  habit.  The  men  and  women  on  the 
streets  seemed  swept  along,  as  if  blown 
S3 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

into  town  on  the  edge  of  a  cyclone,  all 
showing  visible  signs  of  a  wreck. 

Time,  to  the  people  of  Chicago,  ap- 
pears to  be  the  most  precious  thing  on 
earth,  if  one  may  judge  by  the  actions  of 
men  on  the  street.  Rather  than  wait  for 
a  car  to  get  over  a  crossing,  a  man  will 
jump  on  the  car  w^iile  it  is  going,  to  reach 
the  other  side  of  the  street,  if  it  be  sum- 
mer and  the  cars  are  open. 

Alice  soon  realised  that  it  is  no  easy 
matter  for  a  woman  always  to  look  well 
dressed,  or  appear  immaculately  clean,  un- 
less she  owns  a  private  cleaning  estab- 
lishment. At  all  times  there  is  an  air  of 
general  sootiness  over  everything.  It  was 
a  bit  disconcerting  to  Alice  when  she  met 
a  friend  on  the  street,  to  have  her  say, 
"  Pardon  me,  Mrs.  Russell,  but  there  is 
a  smudge  of  soot  on  the  end  of  your 
nose."  Alice  resented  this  familiarity, 
both  from  the  woman  and  the  soot.  She 
did  not  take  kindly  to  this  little  act  of 
Chicago  interest  that  made  the  whole  city 
kin,  but  v^ent  on  her  haughty  way  with 
mind  far  above  matter. 
54 


^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO'-^ 

It  was  Hearing  the  end  of  October 
when  Miss  Emily  Everett  arrived.  The 
little  home  was  ready  and  waiting  for  her. 
The  coolness  that  had  grown  into  a  wall 
of  ice  between  Ned  and  his  wife  melted  a 
little  in  the  sunshine  of  Aunt  Emily's 
coming,  and  although  the  matter  had  not 
been  discussed,  it  seemed  to  be  under- 
stood that  they  would  both  act  a  part, 
so  that  Miss  Everett  would  not  know  that 
anything  was  wrong  between  them.  They 
had  too  much  love  for  her,  and  pride 
beside,  to  let  her  see  how  far  apart  they 
had  grown. 

It  was  not  long  before  Miss  Everett 
was  a  great  favourite  with  every  one.  She 
was  a  very  handsome  woman,  her  snow- 
white  hair  looking  like  a  halo  around  her 
sweet  and  gentle  face.  She  was  most  af- 
fable to  every  one,  and  seemed  to  have 
that  blessed  faculty,  which  so  few  possess, 
of  drawing  out  the  best  in  every  one. 
Among  the  many  gifts  that  Miss  Ever- 
ett possessed  was  an  "  unusual  sense 
of  humour  for  a  woman."  A  man  will 
give  a  woman  credit  for  all  the  virtues 
55 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

in  the  Christian  calendar  but  —  humour ; 
and  when  a  woman  gives  the  least  little 
glimpse  of  human  intelligence  by  laugh- 
ing at  a  most  obvious  joke,  the  man  im- 
mediately beams  and  says  "  she  has  a 
keen  sense  of  humour  for  a  woman." 
Miss  Everett  never  could  understand  this, 
because  she  thought  that  it  took  just  a 
natural-born  sense  of  humour,  for  a 
woman  to  be  a  woman  and  live  from  day 
to  day. 

The  friends  of  the  Russells  were  de- 
lighted with  Miss  Everett.  She  was  in- 
vited everywhere,  and,  as  she  had  been 
interested  in  many  sociological  questions 
abroad,  especially  in  England,  she  took  a 
great  interest  in  the  numerous  clubs  for 
women  in  Chicago,  and  did  much  toward 
getting  Alice  interested  in  several.  Clubs 
Miss  Everett  thought  very  excellent 
things  for  the  advancement  of  women,  if 
used  properly,  and  it  seemed  to  her  that 
even  in  her  beloved  Boston  she  had  never 
known  of  a  city  where  they  had  quite  so 
many  clubs  and  fads  as  here  in  Chicago. 
They  interested  and  amused  her  all  of  the 
S6 


STUDEIiAKER    r.l'ILDING 


time,  and  as  she  was  constantly  invited 
she  had  a  splendid  opportunity  to  study 
them.  The  Woman's  Club  she  soon  saw 
was  doing  a  great  good  in  this  West- 
ern country.  It  was  the  most  democratic 
of  all  the  clubs  in  Chicago,  and  in  conse- 
quence its  benefits  were  greater  and  wider. 
Its  beautiful  rooms  in  the  Studebaker 
Building  were  thronged  by  women  from 
all  over  the  State  of  Illinois,  whenever 
there  was  a  meeting  of  any  consequence. 
As  this  club  embraces  almost  every  branch 
of  study  that  the  human  mind  can  con- 
ceive, from  pies  to  civic  and  political  ques- 
tions of  great  and  burning  importance,  it 
can  readily  be  seen  what  a  mental  stim- 
ulus the  club  must  be  for  the  advance- 
ment of  women. 

.\t  the  time  that  Alice  and  Miss 
Everett  were  introduced  into  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Woman's  Club,  it  was  in 
the  midst  of  a  volcanic  eruption.  There 
would  be  something  wTong  with  a  wom- 
an's club,  if  it  did  not  keep  a  little 
private  volcano  of  its  own  "  in  its  midst," 
just  for  excitement.  The  one  in  the 
57 


W:THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^: 

Woman's  Club  had  broken  loose,  emitting 
fire  and  smoke,  with  a  little  lava  on  the 
side ;  and  all  because  of  the  admission  of 
two  members  into  the  club.  One  was  a 
prominent  literary  woman  of  Chicago, 
who  would  shed  so  much  light  on  the 
annals  of  the  club  by  her  literary  and 
social  prestige  that  the  members  would  be 
dazzled ;  so,  in  order  that  there  might  be 
some  shade  to  so  much  brilliancy,  a  col- 
oured lady  was  put  on  the  same  list  as 
the  literary  lady,  and  they  were  voted  into 
the  club  together,  thereby  giving  the  rela- 
tive value  to  light  and  shadow.  This,  of 
course,  was  quite  too  much  for  any  real 
lady  to  endure,  even  in  a  club  for  the 
advancement  of  women.  It  was  all  right 
on  principle,  if  you  selected  your  women ; 
but  a  coloured  lady !  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  the  literary  lady  sent  in  her  resig- 
nation by  telegraph,  so  that  it  would  be 
received  in  a  hurry,  and  this  little  trans- 
action split  the  club  into  two  opposing 
forces.  The  late  unpleasantness  between 
the  North  and  South  was  revived  and 
fought  all  over  again,  much  to  the  intense 
S8 


WiTHE  RUSSELL S  LN  CHICAGO^ 

interest  of  Alice  and  to  the  amusement 
of  Miss  Everett. 

There  were  many  serious  matters,  how- 
ever, that  the  Woman's  Clnb  studied  and 
discussed,  such  things  as  "  PubHc  Play- 
grounds for  Children,"  "  School  Boards," 
"  Civil  Service  Reform,"  "  Civic  Care  of 
the  Young,  the  Poor,  and  the  Defective," 
"  Clean  Streets,  and  Other  Civic  Sanita- 
tion," "  The  Non-Legalisation  of  All 
Forms  of  Vice,"  and  a  lot  of  other  things 
that  made  men  green  with  envy.  And 
what  is  more  to  the  point,  these  same 
women  could  talk  to  men  about  these  ear- 
nest and  strenuous  matters,  proving  that 
women  were  not  the  fools  that  Ibsen, 
Pinero,  and  the  comic  papers  made  them 
out.  They  were,  on  the  contrary,  real 
thinking  machines,  on  earth  for  a  pur- 
pose, and  that  purpose  was  not  to  stay  at 
home  to  be  simply  mothers  and  house- 
keepers. No,  indeed;  that  was  quite  out 
of  date.  The  woman  of  to-day  has  to  be 
"  up  and  doing ;  "  up  to  everything  and 
doing  everything  —  and   everybody. 

Strangely  enough,  in  all  this  chaos  of 
59 


^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

reform,  Alice  and  Miss  Everett  found 
little  interest  manifested  in  what  is  called 
the  "  Woman's  Right^  Movement."  This 
movement,  so  energetic  in  Boston  and 
Kansas,  seemed  to  have  skipped  over 
Chicago.  That  is,  it  was  not  such  a 
burning  issue  among  the  women  there 
as  it  was  in  the  East,  where  all  the  women 
who  carried  bags  were  clamouring  for 
equal  suffrage  and  the  right  to  vote.  In 
the  West  the  only  thing  the  women 
seemed  to  care  much  about  voting  for 
was  the  school  boards. 

Another  club  of  importance  was  the 
Fortnightly,  which  Alice  had  been  told 
was  quite  the  club  of  tlie  city.  Only 
"  the  very  best  "  women  belong  to  this 
exclusive  club,  and  to  belong  to  the 
Fortnightly  is  like  being  decorated  with 
the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour. 
Its  membership  entitles  you  to  call  the 
leaders  of  society  your  friends,  and  some- 
times you  are  asked  to  their  houses  to  a 
large  reception,  because  it  is  always  well 
to  be  diplomatic,  and  the  hostess  may  have 
aspirations  toward  filling  the  president's 
60 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

chair  some  day.  It  is  always  well  to 
belong-  to  the  Fortnightly,  for  as  one 
naive  member  said :  "  It  gives  one  such 
social  prestige  to  know^  some  of  its  mem- 
bers, especially  if  one  is  travelling,  or 
spending  the  summer  at  some  fashionable 
Eastern  resort,  like  Newport."  The 
Fortnightly  was  purely  a  literary  club. 
Here  they  generally  left  civic  questions 
in  care  of  the  City  Council,  and  contented 
themselves  with  talks  on  the  "  Political 
Aspects  of  Russia  As  I  Saw  Them,"  or 
else  "  Talks  with  Tolstoi,"  or  "  The 
Quintessence  of  Ibsenism,"  or  "An  Ex- 
position of  Rudyard  Kipling's  Effect 
upon  the  World's  Literature."  Little 
trifles  like  these  were  taken  up  by  the 
members  of  the  Fortnightly  and  made 
the  subject  of  profound  essays.  Indeed, 
the  supply  of  midnight  oil  along  the  Lake 
Shore  Drive  was  increased  in  such  large 
quantities  that  Mr.  Rockefeller  w^as  en- 
abled to  endow  another  college. 

Miss    Everett    was    really    much    im- 
pressed   with     the    seriousness     of     the 
women  in  the  Fortnightly,  because  they 
6i 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

were  most  honest  in  their  endeavour  to 
raise  the  standard  of  woman's  mental 
condition.  There  was  an  earnest,  des- 
perate effort  in  this  club,  as  elsewhere 
in  Chicago,  for  culture.  Culture  seemed 
to  be  the  crying  need  of  the  West,  and 
culture  they  were  going  to  have  at  any 
cost. 

It  was  not  long  before  Alice  became 
a  member  of  all  sorts  of  clubs.  She  was 
put  on  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Nurses'  Association  because  she  had  such 
a  good  cool  head.  No  matter  what 
happened  at  any  of  the  meetings,  Alice 
was  always  calm  and  self-controlled. 
Therefore  she  was  eagerly  sought  after, 
to  be  secretary  or  treasurer  of  clubs;  a 
position  that  none  of  the  other  women 
would  have.  There  was  hardly  a  day 
that  Alice  and  Miss  Everett  were  not 
attending  some  club  meeting  or  lecture, 
and  it  was  only  natural  that  Alice  should 
be  drawn  into  the  inner  circle  of  Bud- 
dhism as  taught  by  the  Swami  Punji 
Bandana.  This  particuar  Swami  had 
been  sent  to  Chicago  to  educate  the  little 
62 


WOMEN    FLOCKED    TO    HEAR    HIM.    AND    WOR- 
SHIPPED   AT    HIS    feet" 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

souls  of  the  rich  to  high  thinking-  and 
plain  living,  the  "  thought  "  being  so 
high  that  it  was  quite  out  of  sight  to 
the  average  every-day  person.  Still,  that 
made  no  difference  to  the  devotee  of  oc- 
cult science. 

After  attending  one  of  the  meetings  of 
the  Swami,  Miss  Everett  remarked,  much 
to  the  disgust  of  the  attending  ladies, 
that  it  always  was  queer  to  her  that  the 
educated  and  richer  class  of  society  had 
a  crying  need  of  some  peculiar  kind  of 
religion.  The  good  old-fashioned  ortho- 
dox Christian  religion  did  not  appear  to 
satisfy  the  craving  of  their  effete  souls, 
which  seemed  to  yearn  for  something 
new,  and  something  that  would  appeal 
to  their  artistic  conscience. 

The  Swami  was  a  great  success ;  women 
flocked  to  hear  him,  and  worshipped  at 
his  feet.  Alice  was  intensely  interested, 
while  Miss  Everett,  with  her  keen  sense 
of  humour,  looked  on  and  enjoyed  the 
whole  proceeding.  The  Swami,  with  a 
yellow  turban  wrapped  around  his  mas- 
sive brow,  and  his  large,  swarthy  figure 
63 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

clothed  in  the  most  beautiful  flowing 
robes  of  Oriental  silk,  telling  his  disciples 
to  concentrate  their  thoughts,  to  breathe 
forth  love,  "  and  radiate  it  in  a  luminous 
atmosphere  around  about  them,"  in  a 
room  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  burning 
incense,  and  the  perfume  of  lilies,  with 
the  subdued  light  filtering  through  yellow 
shaded  candles,  did  not  seem  to  her  ex- 
actly conducive  to  high  thought  and  plain 
living.  She  told  Alice  that  hereafter  she 
thought  she  would  remain  at  home  and 
read  her  New  England  Primer,  or  the 
Bible,  while  Alice  was  at  the  Swami's 
conferences.  Such  levity  on  the  part  of 
Emily  Everett  was  too  much  for  Alice 
Russell  to  endure,  especially  as  her  hus- 
band fell  in  with  it,  and  made  the  Swami 
the  subject  of  jest  and  ridicule;  so  she 
renewed  her  devotion  to  the  study  of 
Occult  Buddhism  with  increased  vigour, 
and  would  have  gone  on  to  the  bitter  end, 
had  it  not  been  for  a  most  unfortunate 
lack  of  tact  on  the  Swami's  part. 

Carried  away  by  his  soft  low  pleadings 
for  love  at  one  of  the  sessions  where  the 
64 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

incense  and  lilies  rather  (leadened  the 
senses,  one  of  the  emotional  followers  of 
the  Swami  threw  herself  at  his  feet,  and 
said  in  an  awe-inspiring  voice,  "  Thou 
art  indeed  love."  Not  content  with  hear- 
ing a  good  thing,  the  Swami,  whose  appe- 
tite for  admiration  could  not  be  appeased, 
looked  at  the  kneeling  figure  at  his  feet, 
and  said :  "  Madam,  I  am  not  only  love, 
I  am  God."  Foolish,  foolish  Swami ! 
From  that  time  forth  Buddha  had  such  a 
fall  from  the  pedestal  where  Alice  had 
placed  him,  that  she  never  again  could 
put  him  back.  It  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  her,  but  her  early  training  was 
against  all  such  scenes  as  the  one  she 
had  just  witnessed.  In  telling  "  Aunt 
Emily "  of  it  she  was  exceedingly  an- 
noyed, 

"  My  dear,"  said  Miss  Everett,  "  I 
have  been  surprised  all  along  that  one  of 
your  clear  judgment  about  so  many 
things  should  have  been  so  impressed  by 
the  Swami's  nonsense.  From  the  very 
first  it  was  ridiculous  to  me.  Just  imag- 
ine, my  dear,  a  woman  of  my  age  sitting 
6s 


WiTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

around  radiating  love  and  creating  a 
luminous  atmosphere.  Why,  it  is  the 
very  most  amusing  thing  I  ever  had 
happen  to  me  in  my  life.  I've  wakened 
in  the  night  to  laugh  at  it.  I  suppose 
women  are  the  same  the  world  over,  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  there  are  the  worst 
lot  of  faddists  in  this  town.  I  never  saw 
anything  like  it  except  in  Boston.  I  sup- 
pose it  is  the  mad  chase  for  culture  that 
is  the  cause  of  it.  I  wonder  what  will 
happen  next.  It  really  is  all  very  delight- 
ful. I  wouldn't  have  missed  these  few 
months  here  in  Chicago  for  a  great  deal. 
Remember,  my  dear,  that  this  is  the  last 
afternoon  meeting  of  the  Whist  Club,  and 
we  must  be  on  time,  as  I  promised  Mrs. 
Dearborn  to  help  her  out  in  case  any  of 
the  ladies  disappointed  her." 

Miss  Everett  had  been  greatly  inter- 
ested in  the  Whist  Club.  It  was  a  game 
that  she  was  fond  of  playing,  and  she 
found  that  there  were  some  very  excellent 
players  among  the  members.  This  par- 
ticular club  had  rooms  down-town  where 
invited  guests  could  come  in  and  play  at 
66 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^^ 

any  hour  of  the  day,  morning  or  after- 
noon. The  president  gave  lessons  in 
whist,  and  was  doing  a  thriving  business 
among  society  women.  The  club  had 
regular  days  of  meeting,  and  of  late  there 
had  been  quite  a  little  rivalry  among 
some  of  the  members  as  to  which  one  was 
the  best  player.  There  had  been  an 
undercurrent  of  bitter  feeling  for  some 
time  in  the  club,  but  it  had  been  carefully 
controlled,  and  now  at  this  last  meeting 
it  was  the  hope  of  every  one  that  things 
would  go  off  smoothly  so  that  the  season 
of  whist  would  end  in  a  calm  and  beau- 
tiful manner,  with  peace  on  earth  and 
good  will  to  members. 

But  it  was  not  to  be.  No  sooner  had 
the  game  commenced  when  to  an  out- 
sider it  could  be  seen  that  this  was  to  be 
a  fight  to  the  bitter  end,  and  a  case  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest.  There  was  an 
atmosphere  of  the  most  intense  excite- 
ment in  the  air ;  it  was  the  calm  before 
the  storm  that  finally  broke  forth  in  all 
its  fury,  and  for  awhile  pandemonium 
reigned.  All  the  efforts  on  the  part  of 
67 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

the  president  were  unavailing  to  call  the 
meeting  to  order.  But  at  last  above  the 
din  her  voice  was  heard,  and  one  by  one 
the  gladiators  in  the  arena  of  whist 
calmed  down  and  silence  was  once  more 
restored. 

Then  it  was  that  the  president  under- 
took to  reprove  her  sisters  and  point  out 
to  them  gently,  but  firmly,  the  error  of 
their  way.  It  was  a  sweet  and  gentle 
lecture  tinged  with  a  deep  feeling  of 
sorrow  that  such  a  scene  had  happened. 
She  was  a  timid  soul,  and  was  very  anx- 
ious that  peace  and  harmony  should  be 
restored,  so  in  concluding  her  remarks 
she  said :  "  Now,  ladies,  I  think  it  is 
but  right  that  w^e  should  all  join  in  some 
way  to  show  that  there  is  nothing  but 
good  feeling  among  us,  and  that  we 
regret  this  late  unpleasantness,  so  I  sug- 
gest that  we  all  say  the  Lord's  Prayer  in 
unison."  This  was  a  shock  to  the  whist 
party,  but  as  their  ardour  was  spent,  they 
submitted,  the  keener  members  making 
a  violent  effort  to  control  their  mirth  at 
the  termination  of  events. 
68 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LV  CHICAGO'. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

8^  LICE  and  Miss  Everett  were 
!^  invited  to  attend  a  series  of 
j^  "  Lectures  on  the  Psychol- 
imii  ^^Sy  of  Self,  or  Easy  Lessons 
in  Self-Culture."  These  lectures  or  talks 
were  to  be  given  by  a  charming  woman 
whom  one  of  the  ladies  had  met,  a 
Mrs.  Leighton-Smith.  Each  of  the 
members  of  this  lecture  series  had 
pledged  herself  to  give  the  use  of  her 
house  for  the  afternoon,  so  that  Mrs. 
Leighton-Smith  could  have  the  proper 
atmosphere  for  her  talks,  which  consisted 
of  "  Artistic  Home  Life,"  "  One's  Duty 
to  Husband  and  Children,"  "  The  Best 
Means  of  Developing  the  Inner  Self," 
and  "  The  Rearing  of  Children  under  the 
Most  Refining  Influences." 

Naturally  these  topics  appealed  to  all 

lovers  of  the  artistic  and  beautiful  in  life, 

and  as  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith  was  pretty 

and  dressed  exquisitely,  it  was  an  easy 

69 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

matter  for  her  to  start  her  lectures  under 
the  protecting  wing  of  "  high  society." 
In  fact,  she  became  quite  the  rage,  and 
was  entertained  extensively;  so  much  so 
that  her  board  bill  must  have  been  greatly 
reduced,  while  her  expense  account  was 
small.  She  was  clever,  bright,  and  fas- 
cinating, and  in  consequence  popular. 

Both  Mrs.  Russell  and  Miss  Everett 
had  attended  many  of  the  lectures  given 
on  these  various  domestic  problems,  but 
it  was  more  to  please  her  niece,  who 
seemed  to  be  consumed  by  a  fever  of 
restlessness  and  discontent,  that  Miss 
Everett  allowed  herself  to  waste  so  much 
time,  because  to  her  these  various  clubs 
did  seem  like  a  wicked  waste  of  time. 
She  was  beginning  to  weary  of  them, 
especially  as  she  saw  the  unhappiness 
that  was  here  in  the  family  of  the  two 
she  loved  so  dearly.  When  she  first  came 
to  visit  them  everything  seemed  ideally 
happy,  but  it  was  not  long  before  her  keen 
insight  into  human  nature  convinced  her 
that  something  was  radically  wrong 
between  Ned  and  his  wife.  It  keenly 
70 


grieved  her  as  she  saw  the  breach  be- 
tween them  widen  day  by  day.  She 
knew  only  too  well  where  lay  the  trouble. 
It  was  in  the  absolute  refusal  of  her 
niece  to  reconcile  herself  to  the  life  that 
Ned  Russell  wanted  to  lead.  She  would 
not  accept  his  friends  as  her  friends.  She 
held  them  aloof,  and  used  these  different 
clubs  as  a  sort  of  dissipation  to  make  her 
forget  her  unhappiness  in  the  cultivation 
of  her  mind. 

Miss  Everett  had  tried  in  every  way 
possible,  without  coming  out  and  speaking 
about  the  apparent  trouble  between  Alice 
and  her  husband,  to  make  her  adjust  her 
life  in  accordance  with  his  ideas,  but  it 
was  hopeless.  Alice  Russell  allowed  no 
one  to  interfere  with  her  ideas,  as  from 
her  point  of  view  they  were  perfectly  right 
and  proper,  and  what  a  self-respecting  and 
high-bred  woman's  view  of  life  should  be. 
Consequently  Ned  spent  more  of  his  time 
at  the  club,  and  it  was  taken  for  granted 
that  he  had  perfect  liberty  to  go  about 
among  his  friends  whenever  and  wherever 
he  pleased,  a  liberty  that  he  enjoyed  alone 
71 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

to  the  fullest  extent.  Society  accepted 
him  as  being  a  charming  man,  lavished  a 
great  deal  of  sympathy  on  him  which  was 
not  good  for  him,  and  silently  ignored  his 
wife,  who  devoted  herself  to  her  clubs, 
the  refuge  of  many  a  woman  who  delights 
in  making  herself  and  her  family  misera- 
ble because  she  thinks  she  is  not  appre- 
ciated at  home. 

Emily  Everett  was  distressed  and  wor- 
ried over  the  affair  more  than  a  little, 
especially  as  she  seemed  so  helpless  to 
mend  matters.  She  longed  for  the  com- 
panionship of  women  of  her  own  age,  not 
so  much  in  years  as  mentally  her  own 
age.  What  impressed  Miss  Everett  most 
in  the  women  who  attended  these  and 
all  club  meetings  was  that  in  the  West 
there  seemed  to  be  no  women  content  to 
grow  old  gracefully  and  accept  the  in- 
evitable by  remaining  at  home  and  being 
housewives  in  the  old-fashioned  sense  of 
the  word.  Grandmothers  were  a  thing 
unknown,  because  all  the  grandmothers 
were  as  young  as  their  daughters,  having 
the  same  keen  desire  for  whist,  and  all 
72 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^: 

other  kinds  of  card-parties.  If  they  were 
not  attending  club  meetings,  they  were 
out  on  their  bicycles,  taking  long  rides 
through  the  parks  or  in  the  country,  try- 
ing to  catch  up  with  the  "  century."  An- 
other thing  that  was  unusual  to  her,  was 
the  absence  of  mourning.  It  was  seldom 
that  she  saw  women  dressed  in  black,  as 
she  saw  them  in  the  East.  Out  here  life 
seemed  joyous,  gay,  and  young,  with  a  lot 
of  freshness  and  sunshine  over  things  in 
general.  Everything  was  rose-coloured, 
sky  blue,  and  apple  green.  She  missed  the 
settled  conditions  that  ruled  society  in 
the  East,  and  much  as  she  liked  the  West 
(because  she  was  sincerely  fond  of  the 
honest,  generous  people  she  had  met  in 
Chicago),  still  at  her  time  of  life  she 
longed  for  something  more  settled  and 
solid  than  she  found  here. 

She  w^anted  to  get  back  East,  but  it 
seemed  her  duty  to  remain  where  she  was, 
in  order  to  bring  Ned  and  his  wife  to- 
gether if  possible.  She  tried  to  have  Alice 
go  about  in  society  with  Ned,  but  it  was 
of  no  use.  When  some  of  his  friends  did 
73 


¥f:THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO--^ 

call  upon  Alice  Russell,  it  was  Miss  Ever- 
ett who  entertained  them,  and  of  course 
every  one  was  delighted  with  her.  She 
was  most  popular  among  the  friends  of 
Ned,  which  made  him  love  her  more  de- 
votedly than  ever,  and  induced  him  to 
tell  her  how  much  he  regretted  the  break 
that  had  come  between  himself  and  Alice. 
Ned  threw  himself  upon  the  good  judg- 
ment and  advice  of  Emily  Everett,  and 
asked  her  to  tell  him  what  he  could  do, 
as  he  was  more  than  willing  to  do  all  that 
lay  in  his  power,  to  have  peace,  harmony, 
and  perfect  understanding  in  his  family. 
The  most  unfortunate  part  of  it  all  was, 
that  Emily  Everett  could  not  see  what 
Ned  could  do.  She  could  not  ask  him  to 
give  up  all  his  friends,  and  devote  him- 
self to  her  niece,  who  was  interested  in 
nothing  but  clubs.  Alice  would  not  go 
out  in  the  evening  among  his  friends 
without  a  visible  effort  of  dislike,  and, 
what  was  more,  she  made  no  exertion  to 
let  the  people  see  that  she  did  not  care 
in  the  least  for  their  way  of  doing  things. 
She  was  so  stiff  and  formal  that  she  only 
74 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

encouraged  women  the  more  to  treat  her 
with  the  utmost  indifference,  and  in  some 
cases  rudeness.  It  irritated  her  ahiiost 
beyond  endurance  to  see  her  husband  so 
free  and  easy  among  his  friends.  She 
thought  that  he  should  have  more  dignity 
and  not  mix  in  with  these  people  as  though 
they  were  lifelong  friends.  She  ex- 
pressed her  disgust  to  Miss  Everett,  who 
tried  in  vain  to  make  her  see  things  in 
a  more  unprejudiced  and  a  more  just 
light,  but  it  was  unavailing.  There  was 
nothing  to  do  but  let  Alice  go  on  her 
own  blind  way,  and  hope  that  eventually 
she  would  see  the  error  of  it,  and  come 
to  her  senses  before  it  was  too  late,  and 
before  she  had  entirely  separated  herself 
from  all  possibility  of  regaining  her  hus- 
band's love. 

From  the  first  Miss  Everett  was  sus- 
picious of  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith.  She 
was  much  too  suave  and  diplomatic  to 
suit  her  ideas  of  absolute  honesty,  and 
it  w^as  hard  for  her  to  understand  how 
a  woman  could  come  to  a  city,  and 
without  any  more  being  known  of  her 
75 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

character  than  was  known  about  Mrs. 
Leighton-Smith  by  the  women  who  took 
her  up,  should  be  without  question  ac- 
cepted in  their  famihes  as  Mrs.  Leighton- 
Smith  had  been.  But  Miss  Everett  soon 
found  out  that  this  is  characteristic  of  the 
West.  They  generally  accept  you  for 
what  you  seem  to  be,  and  make  little  effort 
to  find  out  what  you  really  are.  They 
can't  afford  to  do  so,  because  if  looking  up 
families  became  a  favourite  pastime  of 
society  in  the  West,  there  would  be  many 
amusing  and  startling  revelations.  Con- 
sequently they  go  on  the  theory  that  it  is 
a  good  idea  socially  to  let  well  enough 
alone.  Besides,  they  are  not  the  curious 
class  of  people  that  New  Englanders  are. 
Miss  Everett  was  not  a  little  surprised 
that  a  woman  as  conservative  as  was 
Alice  should  so  readily  lend  her  name 
to  the  support  of  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith. 
When  she  remonstrated  with  her  in  regard 
to  it,  Alice  said :  "  Well,  really,  Aunt 
Emily,  if  Mrs.  La  Salle  can  entertain  Mrs. 
Leighton-Smith  at  her  beautiful  home  and 
give  up  her  drawing-room  for  some  of 
76 


^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

the  lectures,  I  should  think  that  I  might 
do  so  with  the  utmost  propriety.  I  am 
sure  that  after  being  around  in  Newport, 
and  living  the  greater  part  of  her  time 
in  the  East,  Mrs.  La  Salle's  approval  is 
enough  to  sanction  any  one's  social  posi- 
tion." Miss  Everett  realised  that  after 
this  there  was  nothing  more  to  say,  as 
Mrs.  La  Salle  was  the  social  autocrat  of 
Chicago  society. 

Miss  Everett  had  met  Mrs.  La  Salle 
several  times  and  was  much  impressed 
with  her  graciousness  and  charm  of  man- 
ner. She  seemed  most  sincere  and  genu- 
ine, a  woman  that  adulation  and  much 
praise  had  not  spoiled ;  with  all  this  she 
had  a  quick  sense  of  humour.  The  few 
times  that  they  had  been  thrown  with  each 
other  had  been  times  of  great  mental  de- 
light to  both  of  them.  Consequently  when 
Mrs.  La  Salle  gave  her  house  to  be  used 
for  the  first  one  of  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith's 
lectures,  Miss  Everett  was  asked  specially 
to  attend,  and  in  this  way  she  became 
identified  with  the  culture  class,  although 


77 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

she  did  not  in  the  least  care  for  the  charm- 
ing widow  with  her  sad  Madonna  face. 

She  really  enjoyed  studying  the  women 
she  met  at  these  mornings  more  than  she 
did  listening  to  the  lectures.  One  of  her 
favourites  was  Mrs.  Naylor.  Miss  Ever- 
ett and  Lily  Naylor  were  congenial;  so 
much  so  that  it  became  quite  natural  dur- 
ing the  lectures  for  Mrs.  Naylor  to  look 
to  Miss  Everett  for  the  same  ideas  that 
crossed  her  mind,  and  they  found  them- 
selves having  communion  of  thought. 
What  struck  one  generally  struck  the 
other.  After  the  last  but  one  of  the  lec- 
tures Mrs.  Naylor  came  over  to  where 
Miss  Everett  was  sitting  and  said :  "  My 
dear  Miss  Everett,  will  you  please  do  me 
a  great  favour?  Will  you  tell  me  just 
what  you  think  of  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith  ? 
I  have  watched  you  all  through  these 
talks,  and  I  feel  sure  that  you  are  having 
a  quiet  little  joke  all  alone  here,  and  you 
won't  tell  anybody  —  there's  such  a  merry 
little  twinkle  in  your  eye  every  once  in 
awhile.  Please  tell  me  what  it  is ;  I  will 
promise  not  to  tell  any  one." 
78 


^THE  RUSSELL S  LY  CHICAGO-^ 

Miss  Everett  laughed,  and  said :  "  My 
dear,  I  don't  know  why  I  am  so  amused, 
but  really  it  all  seems  so  absurd." 

"  Then  you  don't  believe  in  the  charm- 
ing little  widow?  Well,  let  me  confide 
to  you  that  I  don't  either.  I  honestly  be- 
lieve she  is  a  fraud,  and  that  all  this  sad 
story  about  her  two  beautiful  little  chil- 
dren for  whom  she  is  working,  and  who 
are  the  only  thing  that  keeps  her  heart 
from  breaking  and  her  alive,  is  all 
*  tommy-rot.'  Don't  you  tell  anybody  I 
told  you  that,  but  I  just  believe  it.  I  told 
Jack  Naylor  so  last  night,  and  he  thought 
it  would  be  such  a  joke  on  us.  Of  course 
I  suppose  she  is  all  right,  as  Mrs.  La  Salle 
would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  her 
if  she  were  not,  and  I  suppose  that  I  am  a 
cat  for  even  suspecting  her ;  but,  my  dear, 
that  woman  is  clever,  and  I  know  it." 

The  next  lecture  was  to  be  given  at 
Mrs.  Grahame-Brown's,  and  at  this  lec- 
ture, which  was  the  last  but  one  of  the 
series,  the  ladies  had  prepared  a  small 
testimonial  of  their  appreciation  of  Mrs. 
Leighton-Smith's  efforts  in  their  behalf. 
79 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

They  were  going  to  give  her  a  large  bou- 
quet of  gentle  lilies  of  the  valley,  em- 
blems of  purity  and  modesty;  but  tucked 
away  in  the  centre  was  to  be  a  purse  con- 
taining quite  a  sum  of  money  contributed 
by  the  members  "  in  loving  friendship," 
for  her  to  use  for  the  two  dear  little  babies. 
It  was  all  as  sweet  and  touching  as  could 
be,  and  Mrs.  Schiller  had  written  a  beau- 
tiful poem  for  the  occasion,  on  "  Woman, 
as  Wife,  Mother,  and  Friend,"  dedicating 
it  to  "  Our  dear  friend  Mrs.  Leighton- 
Smith."  It  was  to  be  read  by  Mrs. 
Schiller  before  the  purse  was  presented. 

The  day  before  this  interesting  cere- 
mony of  love  and  appreciation,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  lecture  class  received  urgent 
notices  to  attend  a  meeting  that  very 
afternoon  at  Mrs.  La  Salle's.  All  the 
members  were  requested  to  attend,  as 
it  was  of  the  utmost  importance.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  all  the  members  did 
attend,  as  they  knew  something  exciting 
must  be  going  to  happen. 

It  was  evident  as  soon  as  they  entered 
the  house  that  something  was  in  the  air, 
80 


W:THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

as  Mrs.  La  Salle  was  not  only  excited, 
but  appeared  much  amused.  She  wel- 
comed each  woman  with  more  than  her 
usual  cordiality.  When  they  were  all 
seated  and  silence  was  complete,  she  said : 

"  Ladies,  I  have  a  great  surprise  for 
you.  It  may  be  amusing  or  disagreeable, 
which  depends  on  how  you  choose  to  look 
at  it.  As  I  was  the  first  to  allow  my 
house  to  be  used  for  the  lectures  given 
by  our  dear  friend  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith, 
I  feel  that  in  a  measure  I  am  responsible 
for  her,  which  is  the  reason  that  I  took 
the  liberty  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  class.  Mrs.  Madison,  I  be- 
lieve you  were  the  first  lady  who  spoke 
to  us  of  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith;  may  I 
ask  what  you  know  about  her?" 

Mrs.  Madison,  who  in  her  day  had  been 
the  reigning  belle  of  Chicago,  and  still 
bore  all  the  manner  of  a  grand  duchess, 
said :  "  I  met  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith  last 
winter  when  we  were  travelling  through 

California.     She  was  at  the  C Hotel 

while  we  were  there,  and  was  the  most 

popular  woman  in  the  hotel.     I  met  her 

8i 


through  some  of  the  ladies,  and  as  she  was 
in  the  hotel  all  the  time  I  was  there  with 
my  son,  who  was  ill,  I  saw  a  great  deal  of 
her,  and  she  was  most  kind  to  us.  Last  fall 
she  called  upon  me  one  afternoon,  much 
to  my  surprise,  and  said  that  she  had 
come  on  to  Chicago  to  try  to  find  some 
means  of  supporting  herself  and  her  two 
little  children.  She  then  told  me  that  she 
had  been  employed  by  the  hotel  company 
as  a  sort  of  entertainer,  to  look  after  the 
guests  in  the  hotel,  to  see  that  they  were 
introduced  and  had  a  pleasant  time  dur- 
ing their  stay;  and  I  must  confess  that 
she  did  it  beautifully.  I  was  quite  willing 
to  help  her  when  she  came  here,  as  she 
seemed  so  deserving  of  it,  by  introducing 
her  to  my  friends,  and  from  that  time 
on  you  ladies  know  as  much  about  her  as 
I  do,  and  even  more." 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  La  Salle,  "I  will 
go  on  with  my  story.  Day  before  yester- 
day, my  maid  brought  up  a  card  bearing 
the  name  of  a  man  of  whom  I  never  had 
heard,  and  with  it  a  note  saying  he  came 
on  urgent  business  from  Mrs.  Leighton- 
82 


mTHE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO-^ 

Smith.  Thinking  it  might  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  to-morrow's  festivities, 
I  consented  to  see  him.  I  had  an  inter- 
esting interview  with  him,  during  which 
he  told  me  many  starthng  things. 
He  proved  to  be  the  husband  of  our  dear 
friend  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith.  Both  he 
and  she  had  been  actors  in  a  mining-camp 
in  CaHfornia.  Mrs.  Smith,  for  that  is 
reahy  her  name  without  the  Leighton, 
was  born  in  AustraHa,  was  well  brought 
up  and  well  educated,  but  at  an  early 
age  ran  away  from  home,  was  married, 
left  her  first  husband,  and  has  led  a  life 
of  exciting  and  varied  interests  ever 
since.  The  less  said  about  this  exciting 
life  the  better.  She  has  had  all  kinds  of 
experiences,  and  is  now  a  clever  adven- 
turess. She  met  Mr.  Smith  in  Cali- 
fornia, where  they  were  playing  together 
in  some  cheap  theatre.  She  married  him, 
and  she  has  two  little  children.  Reading 
the  advertisement  for  a  professional 
entertainer  at  the  hotel  of  w^hich  Mrs. 
Madison  spoke,  she  secured  it,  and  left 
her  home  and  the  dear  little  babies  of 
83 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

whom  she  always  spoke  so  affectionately 
and  so  tenderly. 

"  The  amusing  part  of  all  this  lies  in 
the  letters  which  she  wrote  her  husband 
after  she  came  to  Chicago  and  met  us. 
It  seems  she  intended  to  keep  in  with  her 
husband,  but  we  ladies  turned  her  head 
by  our  attentions  and  flattery,  so  she 
decided  to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
the  husband  and  the  dear  little  babies,  but 
cast  her  lot  with  us  instead.  She  counted 
without  the  husband,  who  came  to  see  me 
and  brought  me  these  letters  as  proof  of 
the  truth  of  what  he  told  me.  She  was  not 
clever  enough  to  keep  him  in  California, 
and  doubtless  did  not  think  he  would 
ever  come  here.  I  shall  take  great  delight 
in  reading  these  letters  to  you,  and  will 
say  beforehand  that  Robert  Burns  did 
not  half  appreciate  the  humour  of  the 
thing,  when  he  longed  for  the  gift  to 
see  ourselves  as  others  see  us.  I  will 
read  the  first  letter  that  Mrs.  Smith  wrote 
to  her  husband  after  meeting  us,  and  the 
last,  as  they  are  the  two  extremes  of  the 
case. 

84 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  '  Dear  Jim  :  —  Of  all  the  snaps  I 
ever  struck  in  my  life  this  is  the  softest. 
My  old  friend,  Mrs.  Malaprop,  —  that 
isn't  her  real  name  but  it  will  do;  you 
know  she  is  the  dear  old  party,  the  faded 
ten  thousand  dollar  beauty  that  I  met  at 
the  hotel ;  she  looks  like  some  grand  old 
ruin  of  past  ages,  but  I  fed  her  on  taffy 
three  times  a  day,  and  she  swallowed  it 
every  time.  She  was  too  easy;  honestly 
she  made  me  feel  sorry  for  her,  she  was 
such  an  old  fool.'  " 

Here  Mrs.  La  Salle  stopped  to  say :  "  I 
believe  you  are  the  '  old  fool,'  Mrs.  Madi- 
son, but  don't  mind  that ;  we  are  all  going 
to  catch  it  before  I  finish  this  letter.  Our 
dear  friend  goes  on : 

"  '  I  wish  you  had  been  around  to  hear 
me  give  my  first  lecture  on  "Artistic  Home 
Life ;  "  you  would  have  passed  away  from 
laughter  and  surprise.  I  didn't  know 
what  I  was  talking  about  half  of  the  time, 
but  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  them,  — 
they  swallowed  the  whole  thing,  line, 
85 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

hook,  and  all.  I  heard  the  women  in  the 
hotel  talk  about  their  clubs,  then  I  got 
them  to  tell  me  all  they  knew  and  all 
they  didn't  know.  Then  I  went  to  a 
book  store  and  bought  a  lot  of  books,  sat 
up  all  night  reading  them,  and  then  the 
next  day  I  threw  it  into  the  whole  tea- 
party  quick  and  hot  before  I  had  a  chance 
to  forget  it.  It's  the  greatest  thing  I 
ever  struck.  When  I  look  at  this  crowd 
of  cats  sitting  around  in  their  swell  par- 
lours with  me  telling  them  how  to  live 
artistic  lives,  I  want  to  scream  with 
laughter.  Sometimes  they  bore  me  so 
stiff  that  I  am  dying  to  stop  in  the  middle 
of  one  of  my  lectures  and  do  a  "  turn  "  as 
I  used  to  at  the  theatre,  just  to  stir  things 
up  a  little.  I  wish  you  could  see  the 
women  in  society  here;  I  don't  wonder 
their  husbands  leave  home  and  run 
around  after  other  women.  The  Queen 
Bee  of  the  whole  lot  — '  " 

Here    Mrs.    La    Salle    stopped    long 
enough  to  say :    "  I  am  the  Queen  Bee, 
ladies,  and  none  of  you  can  enjoy  this 
86 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO'i^ 

description  of  myself  as  much  as  I  do. 
Mrs.  Smith  says :  '  She  looks  like  a  wax 
figure  in  a  hair  store,  and  if  she  would 
ever  laugh  hard  I  think  it  would  crack 
her  face.'  "  This  was  so  delightfully  re- 
freshing that  Mrs.  La  Salle  and  the  other 
ladies  laughed  louder  and  longer  than 
they  had  for  years,  because  there  was  just 
enough  truth  in  it  to  make  it  amusing. 
Then  the  reader  continued : 

"  '  There  are  more  kinds  of  cats  here 
than  you  ever  saw.  It's  as  good  as  a 
circus  to  watch  their  funny  little  ways. 
Women  are  all  alike,  Jim,  whether  they 
are  way-up  toppers  or  the  under  crust, 
—  the  latter  is  what  they  call  us. 

"  '  The  worst  of  the  lot  is  a  woman  from 
Boston ;  she  is  a  terror,  and  I  pity  her 
husband ;  she  is  all  the  time  talking  about 
family,  and  looks  as  though  she  were  the 
end  of  a  long  line  of  mummies  and  had 
lived  on  beans  all  her  life.  She  has  a 
face  that  would  make  charity  curdle,  and 
makes  me  dead  tired.  The  other  women 
are  easy  fools,  but  she  is  a  crank.'  " 
87 


W;THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

Mrs.  La  Salle  read  on,  giving  each 
woman  a  rap  that  showed  that  Mrs. 
Leighton-Smith  was  a  keen  satirist. 
When  she  finished  reading  the  long 
letter  the  members  of  the  lecture  class 
had  the  rare  good  sense  to  be  in  a  gale 
of  laughter  at  their  own  expense  and 
that  of  their  friends.  They  enjoyed  the 
letter  hugely  and  appreciated  the  fact 
that  Mrs.  Leighton-Smith  had  played  a 
great  joke  upon  them.  All  but  Alice, 
who  was  utterly  disgusted  and  humiliated 
by  the  whole  proceeding.  She  failed  to 
see  where  the  fun  came  in. 

The  other  letter  from  the  late  Mrs. 
Leighton-Smith  was  short  and  quite  to 
the  point.     It  read : 

"  Jim  :  —  You  might  as  well  make  up 
your  mind  that  I  am  never  again  going 
to  live  with  you.  You  can  have  the 
children.  I  always  hated  children,  any- 
way. This  life  here  is  so  easy  and  fine 
that  it  has  spoiled  me  for  any  other.  I 
can  have  anything  I  like  here,  and  I  pro- 
pose to  get  it  at  the  expense  of  everybody 
88 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO'-^ 

and  everything-.  I  was  a  fool  ever  to 
have  married  you;  I  wonldn  t  if  I  had 
not  been  so  sick  that  time,  and  besides, 
T  thought  your  mine  would  make  you  a 
lot  of  money.  I'm  too  clever  a  woman 
to  be  wasting  my  time  on  you  and  two 
children.  You  can  have  them.  You 
stick  to  the  theatre  and  let  me  alone.  I 
never  did  care  for  you  anyway,  and  now 
that  I  am  away  from  you  I  intend  to  stay 
aw^ay.  These  people  here  think  that  I 
am  a  widow,  and  I  don't  mean  to  let 
them  know  any  different. 

"  Good-bye, 

"  Jennie." 

This  last  letter  was  so  brutal,  and  such 
a  shock  to  the  beautifully  ideal,  devoted 
mother  working  for  her  "  two  dear  little 
babies,"  that  it  took  the  women  some  time 
to  recover  from  its  effects.  It  taught 
them  all  a  lesson  that  they  did  not  forget 
very  soon,  but  as  Miss  Everett  said  after- 
ward, it  only  went  to  prove  how  trusting 
and  kind-hearted  Western  people  are, 
and  that  such  mistakes  are  no  sooner 
made  than  they  are  forgiven.     §9 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

Alice  took  it  all  most  seriously,  and 
it  only  added  to  the  bitterness  that  was 
already  in  her  heart.  She  told  her  friends 
that  such  a  thing  would  never  have  hap- 
pened in  the  East,  that  she  was  surprised 
and  shocked  at  the  lack  of  discretion 
shown  by  Mrs.  La  Salle,  and  that  in  the 
future  she  would  trust  no  one's  opinion 
but  her  own  about  people.  Although  the 
other  women  laughed  and  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  what  Mrs.  Smith  had  said  of 
them,  it  rankled  deep  in  the  heart  of 
Alice  Russell.  She  felt  humiliated 
and  chagrined  that  any  one  had  dared 
to  make  fun  of  her.  She  refused  to  dis- 
cuss the  matter  with  any  of  the  members 
of  the  class.  In  her  chagrin,  she  devoted 
herself  to  the  interest  of  the  Trained 
Nurses'  Association  of  St.  Peter's  Hos- 
pital. 


90 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 


CHAPTER    V. 

IpILY  NAYLOR  had  never 
^  T  '^  realised  the  fuh  humourous 
^i  i5    "leaning    of    the    hues    "  to 

^"^^^&  see  ourselves  as  others  see 
us  "'  until  she  went  with  Alice  Russell 
through  the  many  different  phases  of 
society  in  Chicago. 

To  Mrs.  Naylor  the  existing  social 
conditions  were  decidedly  commonplace 
and  stupid  in  the  extreme,  because  to  her 
they  lacked  novelty.  To  Alice  Russell 
they  were  most  interesting,  consequently 
she  accepted  every  invitation  that  came 
her  way  to  see  Chicago  and  get  ac- 
quainted with  it  socially.  With  the  great- 
est pleasure  she  went  with  Mrs.  Naylor 
to  hear  "  A  Morning's  Talk  "  given  at 
the  "  Studio  of  Ethical  Culture." 

She    was    told    that    there    were    two 

rival  studios  in  the  city :    one  for  "  The 

Study  of  Physical  Expression,"  the  other 

for  "  The  Development  of  Ethical  Cul- 

91 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

ture."  The  physical  expression  she  could 
grasp,  but  the  ethical  culture  idea  was  a 
little  beyond  her  comprehension,  and  she 
was  desirous  to  know  just  what  it  was. 

On  this  particular  morning  she  found 
herself  one  of  a  select  and  fashionable 
audience.  The  "  talk  "  was  given  by  a 
charming  woman,  exquisitely  gowned, 
who,  in  an  earnest  and  well-modulated 
voice,  besought  the  women  present  to  live 
"  round  lives." 

She  said  that  all  the  beautiful  things 
in  life  were  in  a  circle.  Raising  her  arms, 
she  gracefully  traced  an  imaginary  circle 
in  the  air  and  said :  "  Now  see  how  ex- 
quisite this  circle  of  life  is;  we  must  all 
try  to  live  this  way."  She  then  smiled 
sweetly  upon  her  worshippers  as  though 
she  were  sure  that  with  a  little  encourage- 
ment they  would  make  their  lives  round 
indeed. 

"  Let  our  thoughts,"  she  continued, 
"  be  round  ones ;  let  our  lives,  our  daily 
lives,  be  round  and  free  from  angles;  let 
our  spiritual   selves  grow   round  —  then 


92 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

shall  we  attain  artistic  thought  and  ideal 
happiness." 

With  this  sweet  ending  to  the  morn- 
ing's talk  she  gracefully  dismissed  her 
hearers,  who  gathered  about  her,  eager  to 
offer  congratulations,  and  to  tell  how 
"  extremely  delightful  it  had  all  been."  — 
"  It  was  so  ideal,  so  inspiring  in  this 
dreary,  materialistic  age." 

One  very  large  fat  woman  sat  on  the 
edge  of  her  chair  throughout  the  entire 
lecture,  eagerly  drinking  in  every  word 
of  it,  as  though  she  were  not  "  round  " 
enough  already  without  trying  to  be 
more  so.  As  Alice  Russell  stood  near 
her,  she  raised  her  closed  lids  and  whis- 
pered, "Was  it  not  entrancing?  Was  it 
not  beautiful?  " 

Alice  felt  like  saying,  "  Yes ;  I  suppose 
so;  but  what  was  it  all  about?"  This 
she  dared  not  do,  as  she  felt  it  would  be 
treason  in  such  a  place;  so  she  waited 
until  she  got  safely  outside,  where  she 
could  run  if  it  were  necessary,  before 
saying  to  her  friend :  "  Of  course,  the 
talk  was  most  charming  and  interesting, 
93 


W:TIIE  RUSSELL S  LY  CHICAGO'-^ 

and  I  am  deeply  grateful  to  you  for  giv- 
ing me  such  a  pleasure;  but  what  did 
Mrs.  Allen  mean  by  it  all?" 

"Why!  don't  you  know?"  replied 
Lily  Naylor. 

"No;  I  must  confess  that  I  do  not; 
but  then,  you  know,  I  have  not  been  at- 
tending the  course  all  winter,  as  you 
have;  consequently  I  was  not  able  to 
follow  out  the  line  of  thought." 

"  Well,  my  dear,  I  don't  mind  telling 
you  that  I  don't  know  what  it  is  about, 
either,  I  go  to  these  lectures  because 
it  is  the  proper  thing  to  do.  All  the  other 
women  in  our  set  go,  and  it  is  a  splendid 
place  to  see  your  friends  and  make  en- 
gagements for  the  week.  It  saves  such 
a  lot  of  writing  and  telephoning." 

"  I  wonder  if  Mrs.  Allen  knows  what 
she  is  talking  about,"  said  Alice. 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  Mrs.  Simp- 
son, that  fat  woman  who  spoke  to  us  as 
we  came  out,  if  you  remember,  swallows 
everything  Mrs.  Allen  says,  but  the  other 
morning  something  came  up  that  none 
of  us  understood  for  a  minute.  Mrs. 
94 


WiTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

Simpson  was  the  only  one  who  had  the 
courage  to  ask  Mrs.  Allen  if  she  would 
please  explain  to  us  what  she  meant.  I 
thought  Mrs.  Allen's  reply  was  delicious. 
'  Ah !  my  dear,'  she  said,  *  that  was  such 
a  beautiful  thought  and  contained  so 
much,  that  I  am  surprised  you  cannot 
grasp  it.  Think  it  over  carefully ;  it  will 
be  food  for  much  reflection  for  you. 
When  you  do  understand  it  then  you  will 
see  how  beautiful  it  is.'  " 

After  attending  the  ethical  culture  talk 
Alice  was  more  anxious  than  ever  to 
know  something  of  the  other  studio  for 
the  development  of  physical  expression. 

The  friend  who  took  her  to  this  studio 
had  been  caught  early  enough  in  life  to 
become  a  humourist,  consequently  every- 
thing became  material  for  her  keen 
satire. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said  to  Alice,  "  we 
have  to  follow  the  pace  that  you  Boston 
people  have  set  for  us  here  in  the  West. 
We  are  nothing  if  not  progressive,  and 
we  not  only  try  to  imitate  you  Eastern 
folks,  which  you  know  is  the  most  sincere 
95 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

flattery,  but,  with  true  Chicago  spirit, 
we  also  try  to  go  you  one  better,  as  in 
the  instance  of  this  Studio  for  Physical 
Expression,  where,  as  dear  Sol  Smith 
Russell  used  to  say  in  one  of  his  plays, 
young  ladies  are  taught  '  how  to  approach 
themselves  into  a  drawin'-room.'  Don't 
you  think  for  one  moment  that  we  take 
ourselves  seriously  out  here.  We  know 
that  we  are  Western,  but  we  are  doing  all 
we  possibly  can  to  conceal  our  horns  from 
you  Eastern  people.  All  we  need  is  a 
little  time,  then  we  will  not  be  so  hard 
on  our  '  r's,'  nor  give  ourselves  a  bad 
reputation  by  using  a  flat   '  a.'  " 

Alice  was  delighted  by  the  honest 
humour  of  Mrs.  Bela,  and  had  a  most 
amusing  time  with  her  at  the  studio.  She 
found  that  there  were  more  things 
taught  here  than  heaven  and  earth  con- 
tained, or  than  Horatio  dreamed  of  in 
his    philosophy. 

There  was  nothing  in  art  or  literature 
not  contained  in  the  course  of  this  won- 
derful brain  factory.  A  young  woman 
could  be  turned  out  a  full-fledged  teacher 
96 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGQ-i^ 

of  anything  or  everything,  at  the  shortest 
possible  notice.  Did  she  want  to  go  on 
the  stage  and  be  the  rising  star  in  the 
theatrical  firmament :  a  few  lessons  in 
elocution,  a  few  more  lessons  in  "  how 
to  approach  herself  into  a  drawin'-room," 
and  presto,  change !  the  deed  was  done. 
Or  should  a  young  person  feel  that  he 
or  she  were  called  upon  to  enlighten  an 
ignorant  world  wnth  "  a  new  view  of  the 
French  Revolution,"  it  would  take  but  a 
few  months  to  give  to  the  public  so  many 
half-baked  and  unassimilated  ideas  that 
it  would  take  the  rest  of  one's  life  to 
digest  them. 

Another  remarkable  thing  about  this 
studio  was  the  keen  interest  show^n  in  the 
drama  of  the  day.  As  Mrs.  Bela  said : 
"  There  is  something  doing  in  that  line 
all  of  the  time.  Why,  my  dear,  the  mo- 
ment Bernard  Shaw  or  Stephen  Phillips 
writes  a  new  play,  we  begin  to  get  ready 
for  it  here.  And  while  it  is  still  hot  and 
dripping  with  printers'  ink,  before  even 
it  has  a  chance  to  cool  off,  we  produce  it 
here  on  the  little  stage  of  this  studio.  I 
97 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

tell  you  I  am  pretty  proud  of  this  young 
town.  Bernhardt  has  done  no  more  for 
art,  nor  even  Charles  Frohman,  than  the 
presiding  genius  of  this  studio  has  done 
for  the  advancement  of  the  people  in 
Chicago." 

"  Really !  I  find  it  very  interesting." 
"  '  Interesting '  ?  Of  course  you  do," 
replied  Mrs.  Bela.  "  Why,  we  are  just 
as  interesting  as  we  can  possibly  be  out 
here.  We  are  constantly  making  history, 
and  material  for  the  comic  papers.  I 
don't  know  what  the  joke  artists  would 
do  without  Chicago  to  fall  back  on.  Talk 
about  literature  in  the  West  and  the 
artistic  atmosphere !  My  dear,  it  is  a 
cold  and  dreary  day  when  we  do  not  have 
a  literary  atmosphere  so  thick  and  juicy 
that  you  could  cut  it  with  a  knife.  When 
all  else  fails  here,  and  the  literary  atmos- 
phere is  at  its  lowest  ebb,  and  the  artistic 
tide  has  gone  out  to  sea,  we  can  always 
take  hope,  because  with  manuscript  in 
her  hands,  there  stands  a  woman  or 
women,  waiting  at  all  hours  of  the  day 
and  night  to  read  a  paper  on  Tolstoi  or 
98 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  TN  CHICAGO^ 

Kipling.  The  debt  of  literary  gratitude 
that  Chicago  owes  to  both  these  gentle- 
men can  never  be  repaid." 

"Why,   what  do  you  mean?"  asked 
Alice,  in  surprise. 

"  Mean?  I  mean  that  they  have  saved 
our  bacon  or  pork  many  a  time,  and  all 
to  good  purpose.  For  instance,  when  it 
becomes  necessary,  as  it  sometimes  does 
in  the  course  of  human  events,  to  make 
a  defence  of  literature  in  the  wild  and 
woolly  West,  to  the  front,  with  flying 
colours  and  all  sails  set,  comes  one  of 
Chicago's  fair  daughters  to  read  before 
her  club  a  paper  on  '  A  New  Light  on 
Kipling,'  or  '  Days  that  I  Have  Spent 
with  Tolstoi.'  Really,  when  you  stop  to 
think  of  it,  our  loyalty  to  a  cause  is 
something  remarkable.  Sometimes  I 
myself  am  tempted  to  write  a  paper  to 
read  before  the  Fortnightly.  I  think  I 
shall  call  it  *  A  Conundrum :  Why  are 
Tolstoi  and  Kipling  like  Charity?  Be- 
cause they  cover  a  multitude  of  sins.' 
What  do  you  think  of  it  ?  " 

"  Why  don't  you  write  ?  "  asked  Alice. 
99 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  You  are  so  wonderfully  keen  at  seeing 
the  humour  of  things.  I  wish  you 
would." 

"  Write  ?  I  write  ?  Why,  how  absurd ! 
I'm  too  busy  studying  human  nature.  I 
get  a  lot  more  fun  and  entertainment  out 
of  that  than  all  the  writing  on  earth 
would  bring  me.  I  do  sometimes  wish 
that  I  did  have  a  literary  reputation;  I 
should  think  it  would  be  such  jolly  fun 
fooling  people.  The  American  people 
dearly  love  to  be  fooled.  Take  it,  for 
instance,  right  here  in  Chicago.  Look  at 
the  women  who  are  going  about  talking 
on  art  and  reading  papers  before  different 
clubs.  Do  you  suppose,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  that  they  have  given  the  subject  any 
serious  thought  or  deep  study?  What  do 
their  half-baked  ideas  all  amount  to, 
anyway?  We  are  all  too  indifferent  to 
care.  If  we  don't  fool  ourselves  we  are 
at  least  amused.  That  is  something  in 
this  world —  don't  you  think  so?" 

Both  Ned  Russell  and  his  wife  had 
heard  a  good  deal  about  the  Twentieth 
Century  Club,   and  thought  they  would 


^.THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

greatly  like  to  join  it.  They  were  there- 
fore much  gratified  when  they  were  in- 
formed that  they  had  been  admitted. 
Many  of  their  friends  belonged  to  the 
club,  and  the  idea  of  the  purpose  of  it 
appeared  most  attractive  to  them.  It 
seemed  such  a  sensible,  pleasant  way  of 
improving  one's  self  and  at  the  same  time 
passing  a  delightful  evening.  Mr.  Rus- 
sell was  told  that  the  main  object  of  the 
club  was  the  literary  advancement  of  the 
members.  All  the  prominent  literary  and 
artistic  men  in  this  country  w^ere  asked  to 
address  the  club  at  different  times  during 
the  winter.  As  the  membership  list  con- 
tained the  names  of  some  of  the  w^ealth- 
iest  men  and  women  in  Chicago,  no  ex- 
pense w^as  considered  in  the  getting  the 
best  talent  in  the  country  to  come  for  the 
advancement  of  its  members.  Instead 
of  having  the  lectures  given  in  a  public 
hall,  the  largest  and  handsomest  houses 
in  the  city  were  thrown  open  for  the  en- 
tertainment of  the  club.  It  was  thought 
that  this  gave  a  more  exclusive  and  re- 
fined atmosphere. 

lOI 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

The  first  meeting  that  the  Russells 
attended  was  a  revelation  to  them.  As 
AHce  looked  around  the  room  she  was 
dazzled  by  the  brilliancy  of  the  scene.  It 
might  have  been  an  opening  night  of 
grand  opera  as  far  as  the  dressing  of 
the  women  was  concerned.  Decollete 
gowns  and  diamond  tiaras  were  the  rule, 
not  the  exception.  All  of  this  was  a 
tribute  to  the  modest  gentleman  who  had 
come  out  of  the  East  on  their  invitation 
to  deliver  an  address  to  them  on  "  High 
Thoughts  and  Plain  Living,"  and  "  The 
Attainment  of  High  Ideals." 

From  the  start  the  atmosphere  did  not 
seem  conducive  to  much  flow  of  soul 
along  these  lines,  and  it  was  apparent  that 
the  lecturer  soon  lost  control  of  his  audi- 
ence, as  it  broke  and  ran  away  from  him. 
Alice  could  see  his  struggle  to  get  it 
back  in  control  again,  but  it  was  of  no 
use;  it  was  away  from  him  and  he  could 
not  get  it  back,  try  as  he  would.  Bravely 
he  went  on,  keeping  within  the  limit  of 
his  essay  for  high  ideals  and  plain  living, 
knowing  all  of  the  time  that  his  audience 


^.THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

was  restless  and  bored  beyond  endurance. 
The  diamonds  in  the  tiaras  on  the  rest- 
less heads  of  the  women  shot  baleful 
gleams  at  him  and  stuck  in  his  brain  like 
little  pins.  And  all  the  other  diamonds 
on  the  men  and  women  were  so  many 
fireflies  that  diverted  his  attention.  He 
could  hear  the  flutter  of  the  fans,  and  was 
conscious  that  the  men  were  wearing  a 
shiny  place  on  their  trousers  moving  back 
and  forth  in  the  camp  chairs.  Alice  knew 
what  all  this  must  mean  to  a  sensitive 
man,  because  if  she  could  feel  the  rest- 
lessness of  the  atmosphere  he  must  feel 
it  infinitely  more.  He  closed  his  lecture 
abruptly,  and  as  he  did  so,  distinctly 
heard  a  sigh  of  great  relief  from  the 
assemblage. 

In  a  moment  the  doors  were  thrown 
open  and  the  dining-room  was  revealed 
in  all  its  glory.  At  once  a  new  life 
seemed  to  take  possession  of  the  guests, 
and  happiness  soon  reigned  supreme.  It 
was  as  if  they  had  done  their  duty ;  they 
had  listened  and 
enjoy   themselves. 

103 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

As  the  Idealist  from  the  East  saw  the 
gorgeousness  of  the  repast  that  had  been 
prepared  —  the  elaborateness  of  the  sup- 
per, and  the  almost  endless  succession  of 
courses  served,  —  he  began  to  see  the 
humour  of  the  whole  thing,  and  enjoyed 
the  joke  on  himself  as  much  as  any  one 
could. 

Mrs.  Bela  presented  the  Russell s  to 
Mr.  Harrison,  and  after  they  had  chatted 
for  awhile  together,  she  said :  "  Well, 
Mr.  Harrison,  what  do  you  think  of 
Chicago  as  a  centre  for  high  thinking 
and  plain  living?  " 

Looking  at  her  quickly  and  catching  a 
merry  glint  in  her  eye,  he  knew  that  she 
understood,  and  he  was  happy. 

"  I  suppose  that  after  a  lecture  such 
as  I  have  given  poor  human  nature  is 
more  or  less  exhausted  and  needs  sus- 
taining. I  never  realised  before  how  un- 
interesting a  man  can  make  himself." 

"  Oh,   don't  be  too  hard   on   us,   Mr. 

Harrison;    we  are  very  young  yet,  and 

cannot  fly  to  your  heights  until  our  wings 

have  grown  stronger.     Have  a  little  pa- 

104 


^THE  RUSSELL S  LN  CHICAGO^ 

tience  with  us,  as  we  are  still  in  a  moult- 
ing stage.  Some  day  all  this  will  vanish 
and  we  shall  be  satisfied  to  live  in  the 
ideal  and  ask  for  nothing  more  than  a 
lady-finger  and  a  glass  of  milk  at  one 
of  these  entertainments." 

"  As  long  as  you  are  so  very  honest 
and  seem  to  understand,  I  will  frankly 
say  that  wdiat  I  cannot  make  out  is  why 
they  should  want  to  hear  me  talk.  I 
certainly  did  not  interest  them  or  even 
amuse  them." 

"  Why,  my  dear  Mr.  Harrison,  we 
have  to  assume  a  virtue,  you  know. 
Think  how  the  Eastern  people  would 
sneer  at  us  if  we  did  not  get  you,  and 
others,  at  a  great  expense,  to  come  out 
here  and  educate  us  by  delivering  one 
of  your  lectures !  No,  indeed,  when  we 
once  know  the  thing  to  do  we  never  let 
it  escape.     Our  trouble  lies  in  knowing 


los 


!PE^ 


^THE  RC/S SELLS  LV  CHICAGO'-^ 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SROM  the  moment  she  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  secre- 
tary, the  Nurses'  Association 
had  been  Ahce  Russell's  pet 
charity.  She  became  deeply  interested 
in  the  young  women  who  led  such  noble 
self-sacrificing  lives,  and  in  her  way  she 
meant  to  help  them  along  their  rugged 
path.  She  was  willing  enough  to  admit 
that  they  were  all  charming,  splendid 
women;  but,  of  course,  there  was  a  dif- 
ference between  them  and  her  own  class. 
They  were  a  different  breed  of  the  same 
species,  a  fact  in  human  nature  that  she 
never  forgot  or  tried  to  forget.  Still, 
she  was  quite  ready  to  do  all  she  could 
to  help  these  young  women;  conse- 
quently, when  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  was  called  to  discuss  an  enter- 
tainment for  the  benefit  of  the  nurses, 
Alice  entered  into  it  most  enthusiasti- 
cally. 

1 06 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

The  meeting-  was  held  at  the  residence 
of  Mrs.  Dearborn,  a  dear,  gentle  soul 
who  was  always  suggesting  some  scheme 
to  help  her  fellow  man.  Mrs.  Dearborn 
had  a  magnificent  home,  and  to  put  her 
socialistic  ideas  into  practice  she  fre- 
quently gave  her  house  for  the  use  and 
education  of  those  who  had  not  been 
quite  so  fortunate  in  life  as  she. 

At  this  particular  meeting  the  women 
discussed  many  plans  which  they  thought 
would  be  agreeable  to  the  nurses,  and 
give  them  the  most  pleasure.  ]\Irs.  Dear- 
born suggested  that  they  could  have  her 
house  for  an  organ  concert,  with  some 
light  refreshments  afterward,  but  some 
of  the  other  more  worldly  members 
thought  that,  while  the  organ  concert 
w^ould  be  delightful,  it  would  not  give 
the  young  nurses  so  much  pleasure  as 
something  more  exciting.  After  much 
discussion  which  came  to  nothing.  Mrs. 
Dearborn  said,  in  her  gentle  way: 
"  Ladies,  I  have  an  idea  that  I  hope  will 
meet  with  your  approval.  Why  not  give 
the  young  women  a  dancing  party? 
107 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

They  are  young,  and  probably  do  not 
get  a  chance  to  dance  much;  and  as  all 
young  people  like  dancing,  don't  you 
think  it  would  be  rather  nice  for  us  to 
give  them   a   real   happy   time  ?  " 

The  idea  met  with  instantaneous  ap- 
proval. Dancing  was  the  one  thing  that 
they  all  agreed  upon,  and  the  more  they 
discussed  the  matter  the  more  enthusiastic 
they  became.  It  was  "  a  perfectly  lovely 
idea,"  and  dear  Mrs.  Dearborn  was  cov- 
ered with  compliments  because  she  had 
thought  of  it.  As  some  of  the  women 
said :  "  You  always  are  so  kind  and 
thoughtful  of  the  poor,  Mrs.  Dearborn; 
I  don't  know  how  in  the  world  we  would 
ever  accomplish  anything  without  your 
help  and  advice."  So  it  was  settled  that 
the  nurses  were  to  have  a  dance  given 
to  them  by  the  ladies  of  the  committee, 
who  proceeded  to  discuss  the  ways  and 
means  to  give  them  the  most  pleasure 
possible. 

At  the  end  of  the  meeting,  when  all 
the  business  had  been  settled  and  the  date 
of  the  dance  had  been  fixed  for  the  week 
1 08 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHIC  AG  OW: 

following,  Mrs.  Dearborn  called  the 
women  to  order  for  a  few  parting  words. 
"  Ladies,"  she  said,  "  there  are  just  a 
few  things  I  would  like  to  say  before  we 
leave  the  meeting  to-day,  as  we  shall  all 
be  so  busy  that  we  shall  have  no  time  to 
come  together  before  the  evening  of  the 
dance.  Now,  don't  you  think  that,  in 
consideration  of  all  that  these  noble 
young  women  have  done  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  the  sick,  we  should  forget 
for  this  one  evening,  at  least,  the  differ- 
ence in  the  social  position  between  us  — 
that  is,  the  position  that  the  world  forces 
upon  us  —  and  meet  these  young  women 
as  our  friends  and  equals?  It  will  mean 
a  great  deal  to  them  for  women  like  our- 
selves to  accept  them  on  the  common 
ground  of  equality  and  friendship,  and 
will  help  them  to  higher  and  better  things 
in  life  by  influencing  them  to  live  up  to 
our  standards  in  this  world.  I  have  al- 
ways felt  that  it  was  each  person's  duty 
in  life  to  help  along  others,  not  so  much 
by  words,  as  by  cooperation  and  actual 
friendship.  For  this  reason  I  w'ould  sug- 
109 


^.THE  RUSSELL S  LN  CHICAGO^ 

gest  that  all  the  ladies  of  the  committee 
and  the  Advisory  Board  ask  their  hus- 
bands, brothers,  or  young  gentlemen 
sons  to  attend  this  dance  with  them,  and, 
as  a  favour  to  us  ladies  in  charge,  to 
enter  into  the  evening's  pleasure  with  the 
nurses,  and  in  that  way  help  us  add  to 
the  happiness  of  these  fine  young  women. 
I  would  also  suggest  that  the  ladies  wear 
their  prettiest  clothes,  and  dress  just  as 
they  would  at  any  other  society  function, 
as  all  these  artistic  and  pleasant  things 
will  tend  to  encourage  and  help  along  our 
cause  for  the  advancement  of  society  in 
general." 

When  Mrs.  Dearborn  had  finished,  she 
left  the  women  of  the  committee  rather 
mixed  in  their  ideas,  because  they  did 
not  all  have  the  altruistic  views  that  she 
had  cultivated;  but  it  seemed  so  small 
and  so  petty  in  the  broad  charitable  view 
that  Mrs.  Dearborn  had  taken  of  life  in 
her  remarks,  that  the  women  were 
ashamed  not  to  sacrifice  their  husbands 
and  all  their  male  relations  for  the  ad- 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

vancement  of  so  worthy  a  cause  as  the 
Nurses'  Association. 

When  Ahce  returned  home  and  told 
Emily  Everett  of  Mrs.  Dearborn's  phil- 
anthropic scheme  to  add  to  the  pleasure 
of  the  occasion,  Miss  Everett  smiled  and 
said :  "  Well,  my  dear,  that  is  all  very 
delightful,  but  I  should  think  there  might 
be  an  element  of  danger  there  unless  the 
ladies  have  done  as  much  for  themselves 
in  the  way  of  higher  education,  as  they 
are  trying  to  do  for  the  poor  nurses." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  '  poor  nurses,' 
Aunt  Emily?  I  think  they  are  fortunate 
to  have  women  like  those  on  our  com- 
mittee as  deeply  interested  in  them  as 
we  are." 

"  I  suppose  you  are  right,  my  dear,  but, 
after  giving  the  study  of  sociology  much 
thought  and  practical  experience,  I  have 
many  ideas  that  do  not  coincide  with  the 
popular  ones.  In  this  instance,  however, 
it  is  no  doubt  quite  all  right." 

That  night  at  dinner  the  nurses'  dance 
was  the  one  subject  of  conversation. 
Alice  made  a  special  request  of  Ned  that 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

he  would  make  no  engagement  for  the 
evening  of  the  dancing  party,  as  she 
wanted  him  to  help  her  and  her  friends 
entertain  the  nurses  and  give  them  a  good 
time. 

Ned  was  rather  aghast  at  the  request, 
and  looking  at  Emily  Everett  saw  her 
trying  to  conceal  a  smile.  As  there  was 
perfect  understanding  between  these  two, 
he  knew  there  was  a  joke  somewhere  and 
that  as  soon  as  he  could  get  alone  with 
Aunt  Emily  she  would  tell  him;  conse- 
quently Ned  fell  in  heartily  with  his  wife's 
scheme  to  produce  the  gaiety  of  the 
nurses'  ball.  He  asked  if  they  were  all 
beautiful,  and,  if  he  devoted  himself  to 
one  of  them,  would  she.  when  he  was  ill, 
devote  herself  to  him  for  the  pleasure  of 
the  thing  ?  This  was  not  at  all  the  manner 
in  which  Alice  wanted  him  to  view  the 
situation;  so  much  levity  was  quite  un- 
becoming in  a  case  where  one  was  going 
into  a  thing  simply  for  the  sake  of  doing 
good  in  a  practical  way. 

She  frowned  upon  all  his  facetious  re- 
marks, and  the  conversation  soon  ceased. 

112 


mTHE  RUSSELL S  LV  CHICAGO-^ 

But  after  dinner  Ned  stole  away  with 
Emily  Everett  alone  and  asked  her  what 
it  all  meant. 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know,  Ned.  Alice 
came  home  this  afternoon  from  Mrs. 
Dearborn's  full  of  this  idea  of  making  the 
dance  a  success;  she  said  that  Mrs. 
Dearborn  was  very  anxious  that  the 
ladies  should  take  hold  of  this  affair  in 
a  spirit  of  broadness  and  charity,  and  that 
they  should  ask  the  men  of  their  families 
to  attend  and  show  the  nurses  some  social 
attentions." 

"  By  Jove,"  said  Ned.  "  Aunt  Emily, 
that  is  the  funniest  thing  I  ever  heard 
in  my  life.  Let  me  see  who  are  the  hus- 
bands. There's  Charley  Sheridan,  Jim 
Monroe,  Billy  Wheaton  (Mrs.  Wheaton 
belongs,  doesn't  she?  Billy  is  her  son, 
you  know).  Well,  with  that  crowd  of 
fellows  I  can  see  where  those  nurses  will 
have  the  time  of  their  lives." 

"  Ned,  dear,  you  mustn't  do  anything 
indiscreet;  it  would  distress  Alice  dread- 
fully." 

"  Why,  Aunt  Emily,  she  wants  me 
113 


WiTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^: 

to  help  entertain  these  young  women, 
doesn't  she?  Just  to  prove  to  her  that 
I  can  entertain  her  friends,  if  she  won't 
mine,  I  would  go  to  that  dance  and  dance 
with  every  one  of  those  girls  if  they  were 
as  homely  as  a  mud  fence." 

A  few  days  after  that  Alice  was  much 
distressed  to  hear  from  the  various  wives 
that  their  husbands  refused  absolutely 
to  go  to  the  dance.  "  In  that  case,"  said 
Ned,  "  I  refuse,  too.  I  am  not  going  to 
be  the  only  man  to  dance  with  all  those 
girls.  I  don't  like  dancing,  as  you  know, 
Alice,  and  I  was  only  going  to  please  you, 
anyway." 

Alice  was  most  disappointed  and 
begged  Ned  to  try  to  get  the  other  men 
to  go,  as  they  were  all  his  friends;  even 
the  older  men  liked  Ned,  and  she  felt 
sure  that  he  could  help  her  cause  along 
if  he  only  would.  So  he  promised  to 
see  what  he  could  do  for  her,  with  the 
result  that  all  the  men  agreed  to  come 
in  a  body;  but,  if  one  backed  out,  they 
were  all  to  have  the  same  privilege. 

Alice  was  delighted,  and,  as  it  was 
114 


WtTHE  RUSSELLS  IX  CHICAGO^ 

the  night  before  the  dance,  it  seemed  to 
her  as  though  she  had  saved  the  day, 
or  the  night,  to  be  more  correct. 

The  laches  had  indeed  worked  hard  to 
make  everything  as  pleasant  as  possible. 
They  had  decorated  the  great  hall  with 
evergreens  and  flowers,  until  it  looked 
appropriate  enough  for  a  real  society 
function.  They  had  a  large  bowl  of 
sparkling  grape  juice  to  quench  the  thirst 
of  the  dancers,  as  it  looked  a  little  more 
like  something  else  than  water  and  was 
as  harmless. 

The  orchestra  was  the  regulation  one 
that  played  for  all  the  swell  dances ;  they 
were  sure  of  good  music,  and,  to  com- 
plete the  picture,  all  the  ladies  came 
arrayed  in  their  most  gorgeous  gowns, 
accompanied  by  the  male  members  of 
their  families,  who  looked  like  lambs  led 
to  slaughter,  and  felt  very  foolish  and 
embarrassed. 

The  nurses,  to  prove  their  apprecia- 
tion of  all  these  efforts  on  their  behalf, 
had  tried  hard  to  work  up  to  the  ideal 
that  the  women  had  set  before  them,  and 
"S 


W:THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

their  endeavours  had  been  crowned  with 
glittering  success.  In  fact,  the  reception 
committee  was  rather  taken  aback  when 
the  nurses  presented  themselves  to  be 
entertained.  It  would  seem  that  they, 
like  Cinderella,  must  have  had  fairy  god- 
mothers, as  their  nurses'  costume  had 
given  place  to  glittering  raiment.  These 
hospital  lilies  that  toiled  and  spun  ri- 
valled Solomon  in  all  his  glory.  A  more 
wholesome,  finer  looking  lot  of  young 
women  could  not  have  been  found.  They 
were  thoroughly  self-possessed,  and  had 
taken  as  much  care  with  their  appearance 
as  the  women  who  received  them,  and, 
in  some  instances,  were  by  far  superior 
to  the  hostesses  in  point  of  beauty  and 
style.  It  must  be  confessed  that  they 
were  a  startling  revelation,  and  the 
propriety  of  the  evening's  entertainment 
gave  many  misgivings  to  some  of  the 
women.  Still,  the  hostesses  more  than 
did  their  duty  by  introducing  the  nurses 
to  the  men  present,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  joy  reigned  supreme.  The  men 
seemed  to  take  most  kindly  to  the  part 
ii6 


K|f^^ 

t' 

Jr 

1 

^■^fikSjF^T  i^l^Bl^^l^^^^^^^^^ 

1^ 

^^->*^    '              '  ''         ■f^isite^.    - 

8^ 

I^BS 

aPT''?-'"^^ 

^ 

K. 

^ 

^^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

of  hosts  that  had  been  forced  upon  them, 
and  everything  went  along  as  merry  as 
could  be. 

Of  course,  it  was  assumed  that  the 
ladies  who  had  taken  so  much  trouble 
to  get  up  this  entertainment  would  have 
some  little  participation  in  its  pleasures, 
and  it  must  be  confessed  that  many  of 
them  had  looked  forward  to  having  a 
good  time  themselves  with  the  men  who 
were  to  be  present.  Unfortunately,  their 
frantic  efforts  to  have  the  men  "  nice  " 
to  the  nurses  had  reacted  upon  the  women 
themselves,  as  the  different  husbands, 
brothers,  and  sons  were  so  very  accom- 
modating that,  after  they  were  presented 
to  these  charming  young  women,  it 
seemed  almost  impossible  for  them  to 
tear  themselves  away.  In  fact,  they  had 
not  had  such  a  pleasant  duty  imposed 
upon  them  for  a  long  time.  Conse- 
quently, the  committee  were  left  like 
wilted  and  forgotten  wallflowers,  look- 
ing helplessly  on  at  the  results  of  their 
own  labour  of  love. 

It  is  never  pleasant  for  a  woman  to 
117 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

realise  that  her  efforts  toward  the  suc- 
cess of  other  women  has  been  of  such 
value  that  it  has  eclipsed  her  own  worth 
and  appreciation.  This  sugar-coated  pill 
of  charity  was  not  sweet  enough  for  the 
hostesses  to  swallow  without  a  visible 
effort,  and  in  several  cases  the  wives 
quietly  took  their  husbands  aside  to  in- 
form them  that  such  absolute  devotion 
to  duty  was  not  at  all  necessary,  and 
that  they  did  not  want  the  men  to  take 
them  so  literally  when  they  were  asked  to 
be  attentive  to  the  nurses.  But  the  men 
thought  that  it  was  no  more  than  what 
they  should  do,  as  turn  about  was  fair 
play.  If  these  same  charming  nurses 
were  attentive  to  the  men  when  they  were 
ill,  it  was  no  more  than  right  that  the 
men  should  be  attentive  to  the  nurses 
when  they,  the  men,  were  well ;  a  manner 
of  reasoning  with  which  the  wives  had 
no  patience. 

The  one  touch  of  pity  that  is  supposed 

to  make  the  whole  world  kin  soon  turned 

against  the  nursing  sisters,  and  they  were 

viewed  in  the  light  of  stepsisters.     All  at 

ii8 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

once  they  seemed  to  develop  into  common 
and  forward  young  women,  with  no  sense 
of  appreciation  of  their  position  and  the 
respect  due  to  the  women  who  were  enter- 
taining them.  Instead  of  showing  a 
proper  feehng  of  gratitude  and  apprecia- 
tion of  benefits  conferred,  as  they  should 
have  done,  by  dancing  once,  or  possibly 
twice,  with  the  men,  and  then  sitting  down 
during  the  rest  of  the  evening  humbly 
watching  the  ladies  dance,  or  else  mod- 
estly dancing  with  one  another,  here  they 
were  monopolising  the  men  and  giving 
them  no  chance  to  get  away.  It  was  sim- 
ply disgraceful,  and  only  went  to  prove 
that  the  nurses  were  not  worth  all  the 
ladies  had  done  for  them. 

As  the  members  of  the  committee  sat 
by  themselves  in  a  lonesome  corner  of 
the  room  discussing  the  painful  outcome 
of  their  efforts  for  the  advancement  of 
their  sex,  they  concluded  that  it  had  all 
been  a  mistake,  and  the  sooner  the  fes- 
tivities were  over  the  better  for  their 
own  peace  of  mind,  if  for  no  other  reason. 
Therefore  although  it  was  but  eleven 
119 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^: 

o'clock,  they  decided  to  ring  a  curfew  and 
drop  the  curtain  on  the  evening's  farce. 
The  musicians  were  told  that  they  could 
leave  after  the  next  number.  When  they 
folded  their  musical  tents  and  quietly 
stole  away,  there  was  great  consternation 
and  disappointment.  The  nurses  sup- 
posed, of  course,  that  the  dance  was  to 
last  at  least  until  twelve  o'clock,  while 
the  men  were  hoping  that  it  would  last 
until  morning.  There  was  nothing  to 
do  but  accept  the  inevitable  and  go  home. 
It  did  not  take  the  guests,  who  were 
good  judges  of  human  nature,  long  to  sur- 
mise the  cause  of  their  sudden  dismissal ; 
consequently  the  hauteur  of  the  ladies, 
when  the  nurses  bade  them  good  night  and 
effusively  thanked  them  for  a  most  de- 
lightful evening,  was  all  lost.  The  nurses 
had  really  had  such  a  delightful  time,  and 
so  appreciated  the  efforts  of  their  dear  sis- 
ters to  raise  them  in  the  social  scale,  that 
they  could  afford  to  be  generous.  They 
had  quite  filled  their  part  of  the  contract, 
and  had  acted  like  real  society  ladies  by 


^THE  RUS SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

taking  advantage  of  everything  that  came 
their  way,  and  pushing  aside  all  that  in- 
terfered with  their  pleasure. 

It  is  needless  to  speak  of  the  effect 
that  this  experience  had  upon  Alice  Rus- 
sell. In  fact  she  was  not  alile  to  stand 
the  ordeal  of  sitting  around  watching  her 
husband  elevate  the  social  and  moral 
standard  of  oppressed  womanhood,  as 
heroically  as  the  other  members  of  the 
committee,  because,  strangely  enough, 
there  was  just  enough  womanish  jealousy 
in  her  nature  to  make  her  unhappy  and 
uncomfortable.  She  loved  her  husband 
with  a  deep,  intense,  unreasoning  love, 
that  conventionality  and  false  pride  had 
misdirected  and  made  morbid.  She 
would  never  have  admitted  even  to  her- 
self that  she  could  be  capable  of  ever 
entertaining  such  a  low  vulgar  feeling  as 
jealousy  ;  that  was  too  much  beneath  her ; 
she  preferred  to  think  that  the  horrible 
feeling  that  was  eating  at  the  core  of 
her  heart  was  nothing  more  than  injured 
pride  and  self-respect.     This  night's  ex- 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

perience  made  her  too  utterly  wretched 
and  indignant  to  try  any  longer  to  con- 
ceal her  feeling  of  disgust  and  irritation 
toward  her  husband. 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ipMS^^T  was  at  the  nurses'  ball, 
^  T  !^  when  the  hostesses  had  so 
^j  1.  j§^  much  opportunity  to  talk 
i»ll  ^"^ong  themselves,  that  Alice 
Russell  and  her  husband  were  invited  to 
join  the  "  Cercle  Frangaise."  Now  Alice 
spoke  French  wath  the  same  fluency  that 
she  did  English,  and  was  more  than 
pleased  at  the  chance  that  this  gave  her 
to  keep  in  practice  by  conversation.  Ned 
did  not  have  the  same  sense  of  security 
in  French  conversation  as  his  wife.  He 
had  gained  most  of  his  French  from  read- 
ing paper  novels  wath  artistic  illustra- 
tions ;  these  he  skimmed  over,  giving  his 
imagination  free  rein.  The  words  that 
he  could  not  understand  he  guessed  at 
and  gave  them  a  meaning  of  his  own, 
which  was  not  always  the  same  as  the 
author  intended. 

The     "  Cercle     Frangaise,"     like     the 
Twentieth    Century    Club,    met    at    the 
123 


%kTHE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

homes  of  the  members.  These  members 
cultivated  quite  an  exckisive  tone  that 
proclaimed  to  an  envious  world  that  its 
members  were  cosmopolitans,  because 
at  some  time  of  their  lives,  it  was  taken 
for  granted,  they  had  been  to  Paris. 
Other  good  Americans  might  go  there 
when  they  died ;  but  these  privileged 
few  were  of  the  elect.  They  had  "  seen 
Carcassonne,"  and  had  banded  themselves 
together  to  perpetuate  the  memories  of 
past  glories  or  crimes.  They  were  envied 
as  is  the  traveller  who  has  his  bags  cov- 
ered over  with  the  labels  of  foreign  hotels. 
They  seem  to  make,  in  the  eyes  of  others 
less  fortunate,  little  haloes  over  his  head, 
like  the  rings  of  cigar  smoke. 

It  was  considered  quite  the  proper 
thing  to  belong  to  the  . "  Cercle  Fran- 
gaise."  Through  this  club  Alice  was  told 
that  she  could  read  her  title  clear  to 
the  most  exclusive  set  in  Chicago.  The 
Cercle  met  every  fortnight,  and  Alice 
soon  discovered  that  the  meetings  were 
of  vast  importance,  as  the  members  took 
this  club  very  seriously,  and  she  soon 
124 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

realised  that  it  was  indeed  no  joke  to  try 
to  speak  French  in  Chicago.  The  Rus- 
sells  met  many  charming  people  at  these 
meetings,  and  enjoyed  the  club,  as  it  was 
so  characteristic  and  interesting.  In- 
stead of  conversation,  however,  there 
seemed  to  be  a  disposition  to  read  French 
plays,  such  as  "Cyrano"  and  "L'Aiglon," 
that  Alice  and  Ned  had  read  some  months 
before.  One  of  the  most  strenuous  mem- 
bers in  the  club  was  a  woman  who  made 
it  her  business  in  life  "  to  take  a  run  over 
every  summer."  "  I  find  it,"  she  confided 
to  Alice,  "  the  very  best  thing  that  I  can 
do  to  keep  down  my  avoirdupois.  Then, 
too,  dear,  it  does  keep  one  so  in  touch 
with  the  outer  world.  I  believe  in  keeping 
up  to  date  in  everything  and  never  allow- 
ing one's  self  to  grow  old.  It  is  such  a 
mistake,  my  dear,  to  do  so.  '  Carpe 
Diem  '  is  my  motto." 

Both  Alice  and  Ned  were  delighted  with 
Mrs.  Drexel.  She  was  so  naive  and  re- 
freshing. The  "  Cercle  Frangaise  "  to  her 
was  always  a  great  pleasure,  and,  as  Alice 
said,  it  was  as  much  of  a  treat  to  go  there 

125 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO'?^ 

to  hear  Mrs.  Drexel  converse  in  French 
as  for  any  other  purpose.  In  fact,  as 
AHce  discovered,  Mrs.  Drexel  was  quite 
a  linguist.  She  spoke  of  Madame  Calve 
as  having  "  wi  ires  bella  void,"  which 
showed  such  a  happy  blending  of  Italian 
and  French  that  the  Russells  were  de- 
lighted. 

At  one  of  these  meetings  Alice  wan- 
dered into  the  library,  which  was  done 
after  the  most  approved  decorative  style. 
She  saw  rows  of  books  pining  on  shelves 
for  want  of  exercise,  and  knew  instinc- 
tively, from  the  sad  way  they  looked,  that 
the  leaves  had  never  been  cut  and  not 
a  breath  of  fresh  air  had  reached  them 
since  they  were  put  on  the  shelves  when 
the  room  was  turned  out  from  the 
decorator. 

On  the  table  she  noticed  six  different 
copies  of  "  L'Aiglon "  in  French,  all 
beautifully  bound  and  exactly  alike. 

Turning  to  her  hostess  she  said  :  "  You 
must  be  very  fond  of  '  L'Aiglon.'  I  sup- 
pose these  are  for  presents  to  your 
friends?  " 

126 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  answered  the  hostess, 
"  that  was  the  queerest  thing.  I  went 
down  to  the  book-shop  the  other  day  to 
get  '  Leglong,'  so  that  I  could  read  it 
over  before  we  read  it  in  class.  I  saw  all 
these  books  on  the  shelf,  and  naturally  I 
thought  it  was  in  six  volumes.  So  I  told 
the  clerk  to  send  up  the  whole  set,  and 
when  I  came  to  look  at  them  they  were  all 
alike.  I  suppose  if  there  had  been  a  dozen 
books  on  the  shelf  he  would  have  sent 
them  all  along.  I  do  think  that  shop- 
keepers are  so  stupid,  don't  you,  dear  Mrs. 
Russell?" 

The  next  meeting  of  the  "  Cercle  Fran- 
(;aise  "  was  to  end  in  a  musicale.  Once 
during  the  winter  they  always  had  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  This  year  the  musicale 
was  to  be  held  at  Mrs.  Drexel's,  as  her 
house  was  much  larger,  and  more  suited 
to  such  entertainments.  The  members 
were  allowed  to  invite  guests  to  this  par- 
ticular meeting,  as  it  was  more  in  the 
nature  of  a  social  event.  The  ladies  who 
arranged  the  entertainment  each  called 
upon  all  her  resources  to  help  out. 
127 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

Mrs.  Drexel  had  a  number  of  friends 
among  the  professional  musical  people 
who  would,  she  was  sure,  be  only  too  de- 
lighted to  come  and  sing  and  play  for 
them.  The  program  had  been  arranged, 
and  by  persuasion  and  promises  of  future 
recommendation  and  engagements,  sev- 
eral of  the  best  known  artists  in  Chicago 
contributed  their  services  for  the  evening's 
entertainment.  They  had  spent  many 
hours  together  rehearsing  French  songs, 
violin  concertos,  and  'cello  solos. 

When  the  evening  arrived,  the  artists, 
after  waiting  in  vain  for  carriages  to  take 
them,  found  their  way  through  snow  and 
slush  to  Mrs.  Drexel's  mansion,  which  was 
brilliantly  illuminated.  The  footman  met 
them  at  the  door.  Alice  Russell  and  Mrs. 
Naylor  were  standing  in  the  hall  as  the 
artists  came  in,  —  a  sensitive,  shy,  and 
embarrassed  looking  lot  of  well-bred, 
refined-looking  men  and  women. 

Leaving  them  standing  in  the  hall,  the 
footman  announced  to  Mrs.  Drexel  that 
"  the  musicians  had  come."  Alice  saw 
Mrs.  Drexel  hastily  leave  the  drawing- 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

room.  Going  up  to  the  little  group  in  the 
hall  she  said  :  "  Ah !  Bon  soir,  Messieurs 
and  Mesdemoiselles ;  "  and  made  several 
other  original  remarks  in  exceedingly 
original  French.  Talking  volubly  in  a 
queer  French  lingo,  Mrs.  Drexel  led  the 
way  to  a  little  room  off  the  reception- 
room  from  where  her  other  guests  were, 
a  sort  of  quarantine  station,  as  it  were, 
before  being  allowed  to  mingle  with  the 
elect. 

Turning  to  Alice,  Lily  Naylor  said : 
"  That  is  the  kind  of  thing  with  which 
I  have  no  patience.  The  idea  of  putting 
those  people  off  by  themselves  like  that, 
as  though  they  had  leprosy  or  something 
else  contagious.  Miss  Goethe  is  a  very 
sweet  girl,  besides  being  a  beautiful 
singer,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  these 
artists  should  not  be  treated  the  same  as 
the  other  guests." 

"  Why.  they  are  paid  for  their  ser- 
vices, are  they  not?"  answered  Alice. 

"  No,  they  are  not,  but  even  if  they 
were,  does  that  need  to  make  any  differ- 
ence in  their  social  treatment  ?  Your  hus- 
129 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO-^ 

band  is  paid  for  his  services,  and  mine 
too,  but  that  does  not  seem  to  interfere 
with  Its  as  far  as  I  can  see.  It  might  if 
they  did  not  get  paid  enough,  however. 
In  England  and  foreign  countries  gener- 
ally they  have  more  respect  for  brains  than 
we  have.  There,  men  and  women  who 
can  do  things  are  thought  much  more  of 
socially  than  we  think  of  them  in  this 
country." 

"  It  is  as  bad  in  the  East  as  in  the 
West,  I  think.  I  never  thought  about  it 
before." 

"  Well,  just  you  put  yourself  in  the 
places  of  these  artists  and  see  how  you 
would  like  it." 

The  musical  program  soon  began,  and 
it  was  a  rare  treat  to  Alice,  to  whom  music 
was  the  greatest  pleasure  in  life.  She 
could  not  help  feeling  a  little  surprised  to 
find  such  artists  in  Chicago.  She  had  an 
excellent  musical  education,  and  was 
naturally  very  critical.  But  there  was 
nothing  to  criticise,  and  she  was  most 
enthusiastic.  She  longed  to  meet  the  per- 
formers of  the  evening's  program  to  tell 
130 


W.THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^^ 

them  how  dehghted  she  was;  but  she 
never  saw  them  again  during  the  evening; 
they  seemed  to  have  folded  their  tents 
and  quietly  stolen  away. 

As  the  Russells  were  leaving  for  home, 
Alice  thanked  Mrs.  Drexel  for  the  great 
pleasure  she  had  given  to  her  in  hearing 
such  delightful  music. 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  replied  Mrs.  Drexel, 
'*  how  very  good  of  you.  Really,  I  have 
been  so  indignant  all  evening  over  that 
very  thing.  Musicians  are  so  queer  and 
erratic.  You  know  I  invited  those  people 
to  come  to  entertain  us  to-night.  I 
thought  it  would  be  such  a  kindness  to 
them  to  allow  them  to  play  in  my  house 
and  have  my  friends  hear  them,  as  it 
would  be  such  good  advertising  for  them. 
My  dear,  would  you  believe  it.  they  went 
away  feeling  insulted !  There  is  a  sample 
of  gratitude  for  you.  I  sometimes  feel 
as  though  I  never  again  will  do  anything 
for  anybody.     It  is  so  discouraging." 

"  Why,  what  was  the  matter  that  they 
should  feel  insulted  ?  "  asked  Alice,  in  dis- 
tress. 

131 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

"  My  dear,  think  of  it,  they  thought 
they  had  not  been  treated  properly.  I 
gave  James  orders  to  have  their  supper 
served  to  them  in  the  smoking-room  up- 
stairs immediately  after  they  had  finished 
the  program,  so  that  they  could  get  home 
early,  and  this  was  the  thanks  I  received : 
that  they  were  not  treated  properly." 

The  truth  and  force  of  Lily  Naylor's 
remarks  came  back  to  Alice  Russell,  and 
she  realised  now  what  she  meant.  It  put 
an  entirely  different  phase  on  some  condi- 
tions of  life  which  she  was  not  slow  to 
understand. 

The  Russells  had  heard  a  good  deal 
about  the  one  and  only  Salon  of  which 
Chicago  boasted.  Their  friends  pointed 
with  pride  to  this  fact,  and  served  to 
arouse  their  curiosity  to  attend  one  of 
the  Sunday  evenings.  These  Sunday 
evenings,  they  were  told,  were  enough  to 
keep  the  flame  of  high  artistic  merit 
brightly  burning  as  a  beacon  light.  The 
Russells  were  told  that  the  "crcine  de  la 
creme  "  of  Chicago's  best  literary,  musical, 
132 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

and  artistic  set  were  always  to  be  found 
at  this  Salon.  Consequently,  when  the 
chance  did  come  for  the  Russells  to  attend 
an  evening  at  Mrs.  La  Salle's,  they  con- 
sidered themselves  remarkably  fortunate. 
To  be  sure  they  had  attended  several 
Salons  in  Boston  that  differed  from  each 
other  as  things  celestial  and  terrestrial. 
They  had  been  to  Mrs.  Juan  Jardin's  Sun- 
day evening,  which  was  as  different  from 
]\Irs.  J.  Champ's  as  the  two  women  were 
different  from  each  other.  Here  Alice 
felt  sure  was  a  new  type  of  Salon  that 
she  was  particularly  anxious  to  know. 

They  were  asked  for  "  tea,"  and 
dressed  accordingly.  Ned  Russell  had 
always  been  accustomed  to  wear  evening 
clothes  after  six  o'clock  on  Sunday  as 
well  as  on  every  other  day,  and  carried 
out  the  custom  of  the  East. 

When  they  arrived  at  Mrs.  La  Salle's 
they  found  a  motley  gathering.  Some  in 
rags,  some  in  tags,  and  some  in  velvet 
morning  gowns.  They  were  all  sitting 
about,  sad  and  hopeless  looking. 

As  the  Russells  entered  the  large 
133 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHIC  A  GO  W: 

drawing-room  some  one  was  playing  se- 
lections from  "  The  Messiah "  on  the 
splendid  organ  that  was  built  in  the  house. 
As  the  great  tones  rolled  out  they  pro- 
duced a  feeling  of  holiness  quite  in  keep- 
ing with  the  Sabbath  day,  but  hardly  in 
keeping  with  the  popular  idea  of  a  Salon 
as  it  is  found  in  French  history. 

After  "  The  Messiah "  was  finished 
supper  was  announced,  and  the  guests 
were  guided  to  the  dining-room.  Before 
sitting  down  the  hostess  said : 

"  As  it  is  Sunday  evening,  I  think  that 
instead  of  saying  grace  it  would  be  very 
nice  for  us  all  to  join  in  singing  the 
Doxology." 

Whereupon  a  venturesome  and  oblig- 
ing soul  struck  up  the  tune,  and  they 
all  joined  in  singing  this  grand  and  splen- 
did old  hymn  as  a  sort  of  appetiser  to 
the  meal. 

To  Alice  Russell  this  was  about  as 
startling  an  innovation  as  she  had  ever 
seen,  but  as  it  was  all  done  with  the 
greatest  reverence  and  respect  there  was 
nothing  that  one  could  do  but  accept  it 
134 


WiTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

in  the  spirit  of  good  intention  with  which 
the  request  was  made. 

When  the  supper  was  finished  the 
guests  returned  to  the  drawing-room, 
where  Ahce  supposed  the  flow  of  soul 
would  begin,  and  the  Salon  proper  would 
start  in  working  order.  Here  again  was 
another  surprise:  instead  of  an  inter- 
change of  ideas  and  brilliant  conversation, 
each  person  was  called  upon  by  the  hostess 
to  "  do  something."  The  Madrigals 
sang,  the  poet  recited  some  of  his  own 
unpublished  verses  (he  did  not  say  why 
they  were  not  published,  —  it  was  not 
necessary,  Alice  thought),  and  an  author 
read  one  of  his  stories;  and  so  the  even- 
ing continued,  as  Ned  Russell  said,  in 
regular  continuous  vaudeville  perform- 
ance with  the  exception  that  "  the 
chaser  "  did  not  chase.  When  once  you 
entered  this  Salon  it  was  hard  to  get 
away;  there  were  few  intermissions  and 
no  time  when  there  was  not  something 
going  on.  It  was  the  busiest  Salon  that 
the  Russells  had  ever  seen. 


135 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

Another  peculiar  characteristic  of  Chi- 
cago Alice  found  was  the  lack  of  family 
connections.  Mrs.  Madison  was  just 
Mrs.  Madison,  nothing  more  or  nothing 
less,  unless  she  happened  to  live  on  the 
West  Side.  Then  she  was  less  than  if 
she  had  lived  on  the  North  Side.  When 
Alice  asked  who  the  handsome  Mrs. 
Madison  was,  Mrs.  Bela  replied  :  "  Why, 
I  don't  know,  my  dear,  who  she  was." 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  who  her  family 
are  ?  "  asked  Alice,  in  surprise. 

"  W^hy,  bless  you,  no,"  replied  Mrs. 
Bela.  "  What  do  I  care  who  her  family 
are,  as  long  as  she  is  all  right  and  interests 
me?  My  dear,  you  will  have  to  get  all 
over  that  family  nonsense  that  you  people 
have  in  the  East.  Nobody  cares  out 
here  who  your  family  may  be.  It  is  what 
you  are  that  they  care  about.  Family 
and  social  position  here  are  purely  matters 
of  location  and  good  sense.  When  I 
first  knew  Mrs.  Madison  she  was  a  young 
girl  living  in  a  very  modest  way,  with 
her  family  on  the  South  Side.  She  mar- 
ried a  very  wealthy  old  man,  and  has 
136 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

had  the  rare  good  sense  to  use  his  money 
to  the  best  possible  advantage  to  herself 
and  her  family,  so  that  now  she  is  an 
acknowledged  leader  of  society  and  ex- 
ceedingly popular,  simply  through  her 
own  efforts  and  good  judgment." 

"  How  interesting,"  said  Alice. 

"Yes,  it  is,  isn't  it?  This  being  free 
from  family  entanglements  and  traditions 
gives  us  a  very  individual  and  independ- 
ent way  of  living  and  thinking  out  here. 
It  really  is  a  very  fine  thing,  as  it  gives  a 
chance  for  one's  personality  to  develop 
and  grow  into  something  original.  Here 
every  human  being  has  a  chance,  and 
every  one  is  as  good  as  every  one  else. 
If  dress  makes  the  man,  a  home  on  IMichi- 
gan  Avenue,  or  on  the  North  Side  near 
the  Lake  Shore  Drive,  makes  the  socially 
ambitious  woman." 

"  How  queer  that  is,"  replied  Alice. 
"  With  us  it  does  not  make  any  difference 
where  one  lives;  location  has  nothing  to 
do  with  it ;  it  is  all  family." 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  that  is  not  quite  true, 
as  family  traditions  have  made  some  loca- 
137 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

tions  sacred.  Indeed,  when  I  go  to  Boston 
I  feel  like  falling  on  my  knees  when  I 
am  in  the  Back  Bay.  I  feel  that  I  am 
treading  on  such  socially  sacred  ground. 
I  will  tell  you  a  secret  about  myself,  but 
you  must  carefully  conceal  it.  I  am  from 
New  England  too." 

"  You  are,  Mrs.  Bela ;  why,  I  never 
would  have  thought  so,"  said  Alice,  in 
surprise. 

"  I  know  what  you  mean  by  that,  and 
I  am  glad  enough  that  you  never  would 
have  known  it,  as  I  try  to  conceal  it  all 
I  can,  though  my  New  England  ideas  will 
crop  out  every  once  in  awhile.  Yes,  I 
was  born  in  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  and 
was  brought  up  in  Boston,  where  I  went 
to  school.  My  people  are  all  dyed-in-the- 
wool  Yankees.  When  Mr.  Bela  and  I 
were  married,  a  good  many  years  ago,  my 
dear,  we  came  out  West  to  begin  our 
lives,  and  I  will  just  tell  you  this  for  your 
own  comfort,  I  would  not  go  back  East 
to  live  again  for  anything  in  the  world." 

"  Why,  Mrs.  Bela,  why  wouldn't  you? 
I  am  sick  almost  unto  death  to  go  back 
138 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

home.  I  don't  think  really  I  shall  ever 
be  able  to  live  here.  Everything  is  so 
different.  I  dislike  it  more  than  I  can  tell 
you,  and  I  don't  see  how  you  can  be  con- 
tented to  live  in  such  a  dirty,  crude  town 
as  this  is." 

"  I  am  contented  here,  my  dear,  simply 
because  things  are  different.  Here  every- 
thing is  so  vital  and  human.  Here  every 
one  has  a  chance.  For  instance :  here  is 
the  case  of  a  young  woman  born  in  Chi- 
cago of  Western  parentage,  brought  up 
under  Western  influences,  who  to-day  is 
the  Vicereine  of  India.  I  know  of  several 
instances  where  these  Western  girls  have 
married  titles  that  really  were  worth 
something  at  the  courts  of  Europe,  and 
these  were  young  girls  without  money 
and  social  position  to  buy  titles,  which  all 
goes  to  prove  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing very  attractive  about  Western 
girls." 

"  That  is  strange  when  you  think  of 
it,  isn't  it?  "  replied  Alice. 

"  By  the  way,   Mrs.   Russell,  are  you 
going  to   ]\Irs.   Dearborn's   ball?" 
139 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGOW: 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know.  I  am  afraid 
that  we  will  both  feel  entirely  out  of 
place,  for  I  hear  that  this  ball  is  for  Mrs. 
Dearborn's  sons  who  are  home  from  col- 
lege, which  of  course  means  a  younger 
set  than  ours." 

"  Oh,  you  must  go  by  all  means.  Chi- 
cago knows  no  age,  and  I  feel  sure  that 
you  will  have  a  pleasant  time.  Lily  Nay- 
lor  is  to  assist  Mrs.  Dearborn,  and  you 
will  see  all  your  friends  there.  I  will 
show  you  Chicago's  social  set  in  all  its 
glory." 

"  That  will  be  delightful,  and  under 
those  circumstances  I  think  I  will  decide 
to  go,"  replied  Alice. 

"  Very  well,  then,  you  come  to  our 
house  to  dinner  and  we  will  go  over 
together." 


140 


^y^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

S^^^^T   was   simply   to   please   his 

Si  1  -S  ^^'^^^  ^^'^^^  ^^^  Russell  al- 
pi  i^    lowed  himself  to  be  taken  to 

ii'-^^^S  the  ball.  Because  he  had 
been  married  seven  years  he  felt  that  his 
dancing-  days  were  over.  In  the  East  they 
had  been  to  but  one  dancing  party  since 
they  were  married ;  then  he  felt  like  an 
old  man  and  did  not  care  to  repeat  the 
experience  again. 

When  the  Russells  arrived  at  the  Dear- 
born mansion  on  the  Lake  Shore  Drive, 
it  was  like  fairyland ;  the  gorgeousness 
of  the  floral  decorations  was  such  as  the 
Russells  had  never  seen,  they  were  so 
lavish.  The  art  gallery  was  used  as  a 
dancing  hall,  and  made  a  beautiful  back- 
ground for  the  dancers.  The  first  thing 
that  Alice  noticed  was  the  large  number 
of  men.  She  had  never  seen  so  many  at 
a  dance  before,  and  as  the  young  girls  and 
young  married  women  came  into  the 
141 


^;^rHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

room  they  were  immediately  surrounded 
by  a  swarm  of  young  men  clamouring  for 
dances. 

Turning  to  Mrs.  Naylor,  who  stood 
near  her,  Alice  said  : 

"  I  never  saw  so  many  men  at  a  dancing 
party  before  in  all  my  life;  there  really 
seem  to  be  more  men  than  women  here." 

"  Yes,  that  is  generally  the  case;  there 
are  always  more  men  than  women,  and 
not  nearly  girls  enough  to  go  around.  I 
must  introduce  you  to  some  of  my 
friends,"  and  before  Alice  could  stop  her, 
Lily  Naylor  was  off  and  brought  back 
three  or  four  men  to  present  to  Alice. 
Each  of  the  men  eagerly  asked  for  a 
dance,  and  grabbing  her  card  without 
paying  any  attention  to  her  cry  that  she 
could  not  dance  any  more,  put  their  names 
down  not  once,  but  several  times. 

Alice  appealed  to  Lily  Naylor,  saying 
she  really  could  not  dance  after  all  these 
years.  But  Lily  Naylor  only  laughed  at 
her.  Anyway,  the  men  would  not  take 
no  for  an  answer,  saying  they  were  will- 
ing to  risk  a  dance  with  her,  and  before 
142 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

she  knew  what  she  was  doing  she  was 
wahzing  around  the  room  as  Ught  and 
happy  as  though  she  were  but  nineteen. 

Much  to  her  surprise,  she  caught  a 
gHmpse  of  her  husband,  who  was  dancing 
with  a  very  pretty  young  girl;  but  he 
was  so  absorbed  in  dancing  that  he  failed 
to  see  Alice. 

When  she  returned  to  Mrs.  Bela  after 
the  dance,  feeling  very  young  and  happy, 
she  said  :  "  Mr.  Love  is  a  beautiful  dancer 
and  very  much  of  a  gentleman.  I  really 
never  enjoyed  a  dance  more  in  all  my  life. 
He  is  such  a  charming  young  fellow ;  do 
you  know  who  he  is?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  indeed,  everybody  knows  the 
Loves  in  Chicago.  His  father  owns  the 
largest  abattoir  and  packing-houses  in  the 
world.  The  Love  Packing-House  is  Chi- 
cago's pet  institution." 

"Oh,  how  dreadfully  disappointing! 
He  seemed  so  much  of  a  gentleman." 

"  Well,  why  shouldn't  he  be  a  gentle- 
man? " 

''  I  don't  know,  but  I  suppose  that  one 
can't  help  wishing  that  such  a  nice  young 
143 


WtTHE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

fellow's  father  was  not  in  the  cattle- 
killing  business.  It  does  make  a  differ- 
ence, you  know." 

"Does  it?  I  hadn't  noticed  in  my 
little  journey  in  the  world  that  anything 
honest  that  a  man  did  for  a  living  made 
a  difference,  if  the  man  really  were  a 
gentleman  at  heart;  and  as  far  as  social 
position  is  concerned,  you  know  that  Mr. 
Love  does  not  take  the  animals  by  the 
horns  and  kill  them  himself.  There  is 
so  much  nonsense  in  the  world  about 
things,  anyway.  Here  we  all  pay  a  big 
price  to  go  to  hear  '  Carmen  '  sung  and 
think  it  wonderfully  beautiful.  What  is 
the  difference,  I  should  like  to  know,  be- 
tween a  toreador  and  a  man  that  kills 
cattle  in  a  packing-house?  Music  with 
red  and  yellow  emotions  doesn't  always 
cover  a  multitude  of  sins  as  they  seem 
to  do  in  '  Carmen.'  " 

Alice  looked  at  Mrs.  Bela  in  surprise, 
for  she  was  evidently  very  indignant  and 
showed  more  anger  than  Alice  had  ever 
seen  her  display  before.  It  was  all  lost 
on  Alice,  however,  who  failed  to  under- 
144 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

stand  why  her  remark  about  Archibald 
Love  should  have  caused  such  an  out- 
burst from  Mrs.  Bela. 

After  things  had  calmed  down  a  little, 
and  Mrs.  Bela  had  recovered  her  usual 
good  humour,  Alice  ventured  to  ask  about 
a  beautiful  young  girl  who  had  crossed 
the  room  to  speak  to  Mrs.  Bela. 

"  What  a  charming  young  girl  that  is," 
said  Alice ;  "  she  surely  is  from  the  East, 
is  she  not,  Mrs.  Bela?  " 

"  On  the  contrary,  she  is  essentially  a 
Western  product.  She  was  born  in  Chi- 
cago some  twenty  years  ago,  and  her 
grandfather  was  connected  with  the  police 
department  before  the  fire.  Her  mother 
is  that  handsome,  distinguished-looking 
woman  that  you  see  across  the  room,  look- 
ing like  a  duchess,  which  again  goes  to 
prove  that  you  never  can  tell  about  family 
in  Chicago.  The  next  generation  will 
have  a  family.  Now  we  don't  need  one. 
It  is  simply  a  question  of  the  survival  of 
the  fittest  here,  —  which  is  true  in  more 
senses  than  one,  as  the  father  of  that  fine- 
looking  woman  whom  you  see  standing 
145 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHLCAGO^ 

with  her  daughter  by  the  door  was  a 
very  good  tailor  here  some  years  ago." 

"  Well,  it  certainly  is  remarkable,  the 
evolution  of  social  conditions  here.  Such 
queer  things  could  exist  nowhere  but  in 
Chicago,"  remarked  Alice. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  conditions  in 
the  East  are  just  as  peculiar,  but  in  a 
different  way,"  said  Mrs.  Bela.  *'  The 
East  and  West  are  two  extremes,  that 
is  all.  For  instance,  I  have  a  niece  in 
Massachusetts,  in  Jamaica  Plain,  who 
made  her  debut  two  years  ago.  She  is 
now  only  twenty-two  years  old.  When  I 
visited  her  family  last  winter  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  this  young  girl  already  put 
aside  for  younger  girls  who  had  since 
come  out.  I  found,  upon  inquiry,  that 
American  Beauty  girls  had  but  one  season, 
when  they  budded,  blossomed,  and  went 
to  seed.  Here  our  American  Beauty  girls 
are  hardy  annual  roses,  blooming  more 
luxuriantly  each  successive  season." 

"  Well,  I  must  say  that  the  women,  as 
a  class,  have  struck  me  as  looking  and 


146 


dressing  better  than  the  men.  Why  is 
that?  "  asked  Ahce. 

"  Why,  my  dear,"  replied  Mrs.  Bela, 
"  our  men  here  are  busy  men,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  about  it,  I  think  myself  they  are 
most  indifferent  as  to  their  dressing. 
They  lead  strenuous  lives,  and  I  suppose 
they  show  it.  A  man  here  would  not 
dare  keep  a  valet  to  care  for  his  clothes. 
He  might  just  as  well  get  a  nurse  and 
be  done  with  it,  as  far  as  public  opinion 
is  concerned.  But  there  is  an  interesting 
fact  about  these  same  Chicago  men. 
When  I  want  to  give  a  dinner  to  some 
distinguished  stranger  I  can  always  find 
men  who  are  clever,  bright,  and  inter- 
esting, but  —  I'm  driven  to  despair  to 
find  women  who  are  mentally  equal  to 
the  men.  I  don't  know  why  this  is  so, 
but  it  is.  In  the  East  I  find  an  exactly 
opposite   condition  of   affairs   mentally." 

"  I  should  judge  from  this  ball  that 
the  evolution  of  society  in  Chicago  is 
really  a  very  simple  matter,"  said  Alice. 

"  Yes,  indeed.     All  that  we  require  of 


147 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

those  ambitious  to  climb  the  social  ladder 
is  that  they  do  not  offend  our  artistic 
taste,  or  our  e3'es  and  ears  attuned  to 
society's  ways.  Any  one  with  money,  a 
grammar  in  one  hand,  the  rules  of  good 
society  in  the  other,  and  a  good  cook 
in  the  kitchen,  can  easily  crawl  under 
the  fence  that  hedges  society  here.  And 
the  cook  is  sometimes  a  more  important 
requisite  than  the  grammar  or  the  book 
on  etiquette." 

Both  Alice  and  Ned  soon  found  that 
being  married  did  not  necessarily  mean 
getting  old  and  settling  down  in  the 
West.  Even  in  her  most  youthful  days, 
Alice  had  not  danced  more,  or  had  a 
better  time,  than  she  was  having  at  this 
ball.  She  saw  many  of  her  married 
friends,  who  seemed  to  be  enjoying 
themselves  as  much  as  she  and  Ned 
were.  As  she  said  to  Lily  Naylor :  "  Do 
you  know  I  almost  feel  as  though  I 
were  making  my  debut  into  society  for 
the  first  time  to-night.  In  fact,  when  I 
really  did  make  it,   I   did  not  enjoy  it 


WiTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

half  as  much  as  I  am  enjoying  this  party. 
I  am  so  glad  we  came." 

As  they  were  talking  Mrs.  Prairie 
floated  by  and  stopped  to  ask  Mrs. 
Naylor  if  she  had  seen  her  little  boy's 
portrait  that  Boiitet  de  Monvel  had  just 
finished.  When  Lily  Naylor  confessed 
that  she  had  not  had  the  time  to  go  to 
the  exhibition  of  Monvel's  portraits  at 
the  Art  Institute,  Mrs.  Prairie  said : 
"  Well,  surely  you  have  been,  Mrs.  Rus- 
sell, I  know,  as  all  you  Boston  people 
are  so  keen  about  art." 

Alice,  too,  was  obliged  to  confess  that 
even  she  had  not  had  the  time  to  go  to 
the  exhibition. 

"  What  a  pity,"  exclaimed  the  volatile 
Mrs.  Prairie.  "  Really,  one  ought  not 
neglect  such  splendid  artistic  opportuni- 
ties. I  am  so  deeply  interested  in  art 
myself  that  I  feel  as  though  every  one 
else  should  be.  I  think  we  have  too 
little  art  here  in  Chicago,  and  we  should 
make  the  most  of  what  we  have.  I 
should  so  like  to  have  you  both  see  my 
little  boy's  portrait." 
149 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^: 

"  Indeed,  I  should  like  to  see  it,"  gra- 
ciously replied  Lily  Naylor,  "  and  the 
next  time  I  am  down-town  I  shall  run 
in  to  the  exhibition." 

"  Why  cannot  you  and  Mrs.  Russell 
come  to  luncheon  with  me  to-morrow? 
And  we  will  all  drive  over  to  the  Art 
Institute   together   afterward." 

"  Why,  that  would  be  very  nice  in- 
deed, and  I  should  be  delighted  to  come 
if  I  may  be  allowed  to  leave  about  four 
o'clock,  as  I  have  a  very  important  en- 
gagement then,"  replied  Mrs.  Naylor, 

"  I  too  have  an  engagement  later  in 
the  afternoon,"  said  Alice,  "  and  if  I  can 
keep  it  at  five  o'clock  I  shall  be  very  glad 
to  come." 

"  It  will  be  an  easy  matter  to  keep 
your  appointments,  as  we  will  have  such 
an  informal  luncheon.  My  cook  is  ill. 
and  we  are  now  living  picnic  fashion," 
said  Mrs.   Prairie. 

"  Then  why  not  let  us  meet  you  at 
the  Art  Institute,  and  not  trouble  about 
having  us  for  luncheon  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Naylor. 

ISO 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  Mrs.  Prairie. 
"  If  you  will  not  mind  the  bite  that  I 
will  give  you  it  will  be  a  great  pleasure 
for  me  to  have  you  at  my  house." 


i5i 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO--^ 


CHAPTER    IX. 

I^^^^I^HE  next  day  was  inexpres- 
^!  rr^  !^  sibly  dreary,  stormy,  and 
^i  i^    slushy,  as  days  can  be  only 

HUli  "''  Chicago.  AHce  was  tired 
and  longed  to  stay  at  home  with  little 
Richard.  When  Lily  Naylor  called  for 
her  to  go  to  the  luncheon  she  tried  to 
beg  off  and  remain  at  home,  but  Mrs. 
Naylor  said :  "  My  dear,  it  would  never 
do.  Mrs.  Prairie  has  lately  come  here 
from  out  in  Nebraska  somewhere,  and 
is  trying  to  get  a  footing  socially,  and 
has  not  been  very  successful.  They  have 
a  great  deal  of  money.  She  was  a  poor 
girl  and  married  a  very  rich  man ;  she 
has  been  very  generally  snubbed  because 
she  does  not  yet  know  how  to  use  her 
money.  I  think  she  must  feel  the  way 
people  have  turned  her  down,  to  use  an 
expressive  bit  of  slang,  and  I  would  not 
like  to  hurt  her  feelings  by  not  going  to 
her  house  now.  If  it  were  any  other 
152 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

woman  in  Chicago,  I  would  send  my 
regrets  in  a  minute,  I  assure  you,  on  a 
day  like  this." 

"  Well,  I  must  say  that  I  think  you 
are  an  exceedingly  kind-hearted  woman," 
replied  Alice. 

"  Oh,  not  at  all.  I  am  only  interested 
in  the  development  of  Chicago's  social 
history.  Some  day  we  shall  all  be  an- 
cestors. Now,  according  to  Mr.  Dar- 
win's theory  of  evolution,  most  of  us  out 
here  are  social  apes.  A  few  years  from 
now  we  shall  all  have  families.  Some 
of  us  have  the  money  and  taste  to  buy 
up  all  the  old  silver  and  furniture  that 
belong  to  the  impoverished  blue-blooded 
families  of  the  East,  and  all  we  need 
will  be  time  to  mellow  us.  Then  we 
Westerners  will  be  the  real  aristocracy 
of  America." 

Alice  Russell  laughed  with  Mrs. 
Naylor  at  the  joke  of  life,  and  was  so 
entertained  by  her  wholesome  views  of 
things  in  general  that  she  was  surprised 
to  find  the  drive  to  Mrs.  Prairie's  so 
short  and  pleasant. 

153 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

When  they  were  seated  at  the  table 
Mrs.  Prairie  said,  in  her  fluttering  way: 
"  I  really  hope  we  will  have  something 
to  eat.  I  have  been  so  busy  all  morn- 
ing attending  a  meeting  of  St.  Luke's 
Hospital  Committee  that  I  did  not  have 
a  moment  to  look  after  my  domestic 
arrangements.  Then  my  friend,  Mrs. 
Drexel,  had  some  English  girls  visiting 
her,  and  asked  me  to  stop  in  this  morn- 
ing to  call  upon  them.  She  thought  they 
were  going  away  to-morrow,  but  it 
seems  they  have  decided  to  stay  over." 

"  Well,  I  hope,"  replied  Lily  Naylor, 
"  that  they  won't  be  like  some  other  Eng- 
lish girls  who  were  visiting  friends  of 
ours  here  last  winter." 

"Why,  what  happened?"  asked  Alice. 
"  I  always  found  English  people  most 
charming." 

"  Well,  so  they  are,"  said  Mrs.  Nay- 
lor, "  but  did  you  ever  have  any  of  them 
visiting  you  ?  " 

"  No,  I  can't  say  that  I  ever  did." 

"  That  is  where  the  trouble  comes  in, 
I  suppose  as  a  class  that  we  Western 
154 


WiTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

people  are  the  most  hospitable  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  I  know  that  no  matter 
where  I  go,  and  I've  been  in  nearly 
every  city  in  the  world,  I  never  met 
anything  like  them.  If  a  Western  per- 
son meets  you  anywhere  on  this  small 
globe,  and  likes  you,  he  always  asks  you 
to  come  and  see  him  if  you  ever  happen 
to  be  within  a  thousand  miles  of  his 
house.  That  was  what  my  friend  did. 
He  happened  to  be  in  London  on  busi- 
ness, and  was  entertained  at  the  house 
of  one  of  his  business  friends.  When  I 
say  he  was  entertained  I  mean  that  he 
went  there  just  one  night  for  dinner. 
His  host  had  two  daughters,  not  particu- 
larly young,  but  unmarried.  When  my 
friend  left  the  house  that  night,  he  said, 
in  his  careless  Western  way,  '  Now  re- 
member if  you  ever  come  to  America 
you  must  let  me  know,  as  I  would  like  to 
have  my  daughters  meet  you,  and  if  you 
are  in  Chicago  you  must  not  go  away 
without  making  us  a  little  visit.'  " 

"  Did   they   come   after   an    invitation 
like  that?  "  asked  Alice.     "  Why,  that  to 
155 


mTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

me  would  mean  no  more  than  the  Span- 
iard who  offers  you  his  house  and  all 
that  is  in  it,  if  you  chance  to  admire  it." 

"Did  they  come?  Well,  I  should 
think  they  did.  They  came,  they  saw, 
and  they  conquered  the  whole  household. 
About  six  months  after  the  return  of  our 
friend  from  abroad,  he  received  a  letter 
from  his  London  business  friend  saying 
that  his  two  daughters  were  coming  to 
America.  They  were  going  to  visit  an 
uncle  who  lived  on  a  ranch  in  Arizona, 
and  remembering  the  kind  invitation  of 
his  friend  to  have  his  daughters  visit 
him,  he  wrote  to  say  that  they  would  be 
in  Chicago  on  such  a  date,  and  would 
he  please  meet  them.  There  was  no 
thought  whatever  about  the  inconven- 
ience that  such  a  visit  might  cause. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  meet  the 
young  women  at  the  station  when  they 
telegraphed  from  New  York  the  time 
they  would  be  there." 

"  Why  didn't  he  meet  them  and  take 
them  to  a  hotel,  where  they  should  have 


:S6 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  Well,"  replied  Lily  Naylor,  "  that 
is  where  we  are  foolish.  We  don't  do 
that  kind  of  thing  out  West.  We  don't 
think  it  hospitable,  although  it  may  be 
sensible,  and  I  have  heard  that  it  is  done 
in  the  East." 

"  Why,  I  think  it  would  be  perfectly 
dreadful  to  do  such  a  thing,"  replied  Mrs. 
Prairie,  the  glow  of  whose  heart  society 
had  not  yet  dimmed. 

"  Well,  that  is  what  my  dear  friend  — 
who,  by  the  way,  is  an  elderly  gentleman 
and  quite  distinguished  in  the  affairs  of 
the  city  —  thought,"  said  Mrs.  Naylor, 
"  His  daughters  were  not  quite  so  pleased 
or  gracious  over  this  invasion  of  the  Brit- 
ish. The  old  gentleman  had  been  a 
widower  for  some  years,  and  his  daugh- 
ters managed  the  affairs  of  their  large 
house  for  him.  Mr.  Van  Buren  is  known 
the  world  over  as  being  one  of  Chicago's 
most  hospitable  citizens,  as  nearly  every 
one  who  comes  to  town  is  entertained 
there.  They  always  have  a  house  full  of 
people,  and  I  really  don't  see  how  his 
daughters,  who  are  young  girls,  can  stand 
157 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHIC  AG  Oi^ 

the  responsibility  of  it  all.  When  the 
day  arrived  for  the  young  women  to  ap- 
pear upon  the  scene,  Mr.  Van  Buren  met 
them  at  the  station.  It  took  two  carriages 
to  convey  them  and  their  '  luggage  '  to 
the  Van  Buren  house.  The  Van  Buren 
girls  said  they  never  saw  so  many  wraps, 
bags,  and  rugs  in  all  their  lives.  Al- 
though the  Van  Buren  house  was  large, 
still  they  had  so  many  other  guests  that 
these  two  stalwart  young  English  women 
were  put  into  a  large  room  with  two  beds. 
My  dear,  would  you  believe  it,  they  in- 
formed Miss  Van  Buren,  that  night  before 
they  went  to  bed,  that  they  could  not  sleep 
in  the  same  room  together;  so  Miss  Van 
Buren  had  to  give  up  her  own  room  and 
sleep  on  the  sofa  in  her  sister's  room! 
But  the  climax  came,  when  the  next  morn- 
ing outside  the  door  of  each  room  was 
an  array  of  shoes.  Not  one  pair,  my  dear, 
but  six  pairs  at  each  door!  And  such 
shoes !  Edith  Van  Buren  said  they  seemed 
to  stretch  across  the  hall,  they  were  so 
large.  The  English  girls  slept  late,  and 
Edith  quietly  called  the  whole  family  to 
158 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

gaze  on  the  scene.  She  says  she  will  never 
forget  her  father's  perplexed  look.  She 
said  she  thought  they  were  souvenirs  of 
the  Boer  war  that  they  had  brought  over 
with  them." 

"  What  were  the  shoes  doing  in  the 
hall  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Prairie. 

'*  Why,  to  be  blacked,  of  course." 

"  Well,  I  would  have  a  time  getting 
boots  blacked  in  my  house,"  replied  Mrs. 
Prairie.  "  Why,  my  maids  would  leave 
before  they  would  do  such  a  thing." 

"  Exactly,  and  that  is  just  what  hap- 
pened in  the  Van  Buren  house,"  said  Mrs. 
Naylor,  "  The  servants  struck  one  and 
all." 

"  Did  they  not  have  a  man  about  the 
place  that  would  do  it  for  her?"  asked 
Alice,  in  surprise. 

"  Well,  that  was  funny,  too.  The 
coachman  was  an  Irishman  and  a  Boer 
sympathiser ;  so  along  with  Ireland's 
wTOngs  and  those  of  the  Boers  he  hated 
ever}i:hing  English,  so  much  so  that  Edith 
Van  Buren  had  to  watch  him,  as  his  chief 
delight  was  in  driving  the  horses  in  a  way 
159 


mTHE  RUS SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

that  frightened  the  Enghsh  girls  half  to 
death.  He  would  have  done  anything 
that  Edith  Van  Buren  asked  of  him,  but 
not  this.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but 
make  the  best  of  it,  and  what  do  you  sup- 
pose happened  ?  Every  blessed  night  that 
dear  old  Mr.  Van  Buren  would  wait  until 
after  those  girls  had  gone  to  their  rooms 
and  put  out  their  shoes,  covered  with  the 
dirt  and  mud  of  Chicago's,  streets,  and 
then  taking  off  his  evening  clothes  after 
having  been  entertained  at  some  distin- 
guished dinner  party,  that  dear  old  man 
would  slyly  sneak  on  tiptoe,  get  those 
shoes,  and  then  steal  away  down  the  back 
stairs  and  polish  them,  so  that  none  of 
the  duties  of  the  hospitality  of  his  house 
should  be  neglected.  Edith  Van  Buren 
and  her  sister  were  so  indignant  over 
their  father's  doing  such  a  thing  that  they 
said  they  used  to  spend  all  their  money 
buying  cabs  for  these  English  girls  so 
that  they  would  not  get  their  shoes 
muddy.  The  thing  has  its  humourous 
side,  too.  I  think  the  picture  of  dear  old 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  president  of  banks, 
1 60 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO--^ 

and  as  distinguished  as  he  is,  sitting  up 
nights  waiting  for  those  stupid  Enghsh 
girls  to  go  to  bed  so  he  could  get  to  work 
blacking  their  boots,  is  as  funny  as  any- 
thing I  ever  heard." 

"How  long  did  they  stay?"  asked 
Alice. 

"  Now  how  long  would  you  suppose  ?  " 
replied  Lily  Naylor.  "  They  stayed  a 
month,  my  dear,  and  would  have  been 
there  yet,  if  the  younger  Miss  Van  Buren 
had  not  fallen  quite  ill.  The  doctor  said 
she  showed  symptoms  of  diphtheria. 
They  got  out  in  a  hurry  then.  As  Mar- 
garet Van  Buren  said  afterward,  she 
thought  the  doctor  said  it  purposely  to 
help  the  family  along  by  scaring  off  the 
English  girls." 

All  this  time  the  luncheon  had  been 
going  on  from  one  elaborate  course  to 
another.  The  little  bite  which  they  were 
promised  threatened  to  go  on  for  ever. 
Qams,  bouillon,  lobster  a  la  Newburgh, 
quail,  salad,  and  each  dish  garnished  and 
decorated  like  a  florist's  window  on  Easter 
Day.  Food,  to  Alice  Russell,  was  always 
i6i 


a  matter  of  indifference,  and  her  patience 
was  utterly  exhausted  at  this  display  of 
bad  taste. 

The  end  was  reached  when  the  ice  was 
brought  on  in  frozen  forms.  On  top  of 
a  nest  of  spun  sugar  sat  a  little  red,  white, 
and  green  ice-cream  bird.  This  was  too 
much  for  Alice,  who  was  much  disgusted 
and  bored  from  the  lack  of  honest  true 
hospitality  shown.  She  heard  the  clock 
strike  two,  then  three,  and  then  half  after 
three  before  they  left  the  table. 

Of  course  there  was  no  time  left  to  go 
to  the  Art  Institute  to  see  the  Boutet  de 
Monvel  exhibition,  as  they  had  planned, 
as  it  was  now  time  for  both  Alice  and 
Lily  Naylor  to  leave,  in  order  to  keep 
their  other  appointments. 

This  excessive  hospitality  in  Chicago 
irritated  Alice  Russell  more  than  anything 
else.  Eating  seemed  to  be  the  primary  end 
of  all  entertainments.  Even  Mrs.  Bela 
told  her  that  they  never  went  anywhere 
unless  they  were  sure  it  was  going  to 
pay.  As  she  said :  "  What  is  the  use  of 
going  about  meeting  a  lot  of  stupid  people 
162 


mTHE  RUSSELL S  LV  CHICAGO^ 

unless  you  are  going  to  get  something  out 
of  it?  If  I  am  invited  out  to  dine,  and 
I  know  that  I  am  going  to  get  a  particu- 
larly good  dinner,  why,  then  I  go ;  or  if 
it  is  a  reception  to  meet  a  distinguished 
person,  that  is  food  enough  for  one  who 
has  a  light  appetite.  An  evening  party 
with  a  good  supper  will  atone  for  a  stupid 
entertainment ;  then  I  go ;  otherwise  I 
stay  at  home  and  play  cards  with  Mr. 
Bela  or  read  a  good  book." 

"  Surely,  Mrs.  Bela,"  said  Alice,  aghast 
at  such  sentiments,  "  you  do  not  think  that 
eating  is  the  chief  pleasure  in  life,  do 
you?  " 

"  My  dear,  it  goes  a  long  way,  I  find, 
after  being  brought  up  as  you  and  I  have, 
on  codfish  and  pie.  When  I  stop  to  think 
of  all  the  pies  I  used  to  eat  back  in  New 
England,  really  I  feel  as  though  I  owe 
my  digestive  organs  a  great  reparation. 
And  those  awful  New  England  '  teas,' 
where  everything  is  cold,  and  the  inevita- 
ble blueberry  pie  —  sometimes  it  was  blue- 
berry cake  —  and  when  it  wasn't  blue- 
berries it  was  thick  custard  pie !  It  seems 
i63 


W:THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

to  me  that,  instead  of  the  New  England 
babies  being  born  v/ith  a  silver  spoon  in 
their  mouths,  they  are  born  with  pie  in 
their  mouths.  Really,  dear,  isn't  it  dread- 
ful the  cold-blooded  way  in  which  New 
England  people  live?  " 

By  this  time  Alice  was  in  a  gale  of 
laughter  and  could  only  say :  "  I  never 
thought  of  it  that  way  before,  and  I  sup- 
pose we  are  a  nation  of  pie-eaters.  Still 
I  must  confess  that  I  would  rather  have 
our  cold-blooded  way  of  living,  as  you 
call  it,  than  this  excessive  hospitality  out 
here.  I  think  the  spiritual  results  are 
better,  anyway." 

"  My  dear,  the  days  of  French  Salons 
and  the  Concord  School  of  Philosophy 
are  over,"  replied  Mrs.  Bela.  "  Out  here 
we  are  modern  materialists,  while  you 
in  the  East  are  fast  becoming  '  American 
mediasvalites.'  " 


164 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  hV  CHICAGO^: 


CHAPTER    X. 

HE  features  which  both  AHce 
!|§  and  Ned  Russell  enjoyed  in 
Chicago  more  than  any  one 
^^^^^  thing  else  were  the  Thomas 
concerts,  otherwise  known  as  the  Chi- 
cago Symphony  Orchestra.  It  was  the 
habit  of  Alice's  life  to  attend  the  Sym- 
phony concerts  in  Boston,  and  after  they 
were  married  both  she  and  her  husband 
held  Saturday  night  sacred  to  them.  The 
thought  of  leaving  the  Symphony  con- 
certs was  among  the  keenest  regrets  that 
Alice  had  in  leaving  Boston.  She  never 
expected  again  to  hear  such  music  as 
she  had  heard  there ;  consequently  it  was 
the  greatest  happiness  to  her  to  find  that 
here  in  Chicago  was  an  orchestra  as  de- 
lightful as  the  one  in  Boston.  She  was 
not  at  all  prepared  to  admit  this  when 
she  attended  the  first  concert,  but  through- 
out the  winter  the  fact  was  forced  upon 
her  that  in  some  respects  the  Thomas 
i6s 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

concerts  were  even  superior  to  those  in 
Boston. 

The  Russells  never  missed  an  oppor- 
tunity to  attend  the  Saturday  evening 
concerts,  as,  aside  from  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  the  music,  they  were  always  sure 
to  see  their  friends. 

When  Mrs.  Drexel  invited  them  to  her 
box  to  meet  Mrs.  Peabody,  of  Boston, 
and  to  hear  Melba  sing,  Alice  accepted  the 
invitation  with  the  greatest  pleasure,  and 
looked  forward  to  an  evening  of  unalloyed 
delight. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  Auditorium 
they  saw  a  scene  of  splendour  that  would 
have  done  credit  to  an  opera  night  at  the 
Metropolitan  Opera  House  in  New  York 
City.  Melba,  of  course,  was  the  lodestar 
that  attracted  the  people,  while,  in  addi- 
tion, the  splendid  Wagner  program  that 
Mr.  Thomas  had  arranged  for  the  even- 
ing had  its  unquestioned  attraction.  The 
vast  Auditorium  was  crowded;  even  the 
galleries  were  full  up  to  the  highest  one, 
which,  in  this  instance,  might  be  called 
"  musicians'  heaven,"  Alice  thought. 
i66 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

The  boxes  were  all  filled  with  stun- 
ningly dressed  women,  and  as  Mrs. 
Drexel  was  one  of  the  patronesses  of  the 
Thomas  concerts,  and  quite  the  grand 
duchess  of  Chicago's  society,  she  leaned 
from  her  box  smiling  upon  the  entire 
house,  as  though  it  were  a  personal  trib- 
ute to  her,  so  much  had  she  the  interests 
of  the  musical  association  at  heart.  Alice 
found  that  this  was  particularly  true  of 
all  the  women  who  were  on  the  list  of 
patronesses. 

She  had  been  much  amused  all  winter 
by  the  steady  fight  that  had  been  going 
on  in  the  Fortnightly  Club.  She  was  told 
that  there  had  been  a  cry  of  consternation 
from  at  least  half  the  members  of  that 
aristocratic  club  when  they  discovered 
that  the  committee  had  appointed  Friday 
afternoons  for  the  meetings  of  the  Fort- 
nightly. So  far  as  a  majority  of  the 
members  were  concerned,  they  might  as 
well  have  appointed  Sundays  for  the  club 
to  meet ;  it  would  not  have  been  a  greater 
violation  of  sacred  principles  than  to  ap- 
point the  afternoons  of  the  Thomas  con- 
167 


W:THE  RUS  SELLS  IN  CHIC  AG  O'-^ 

certs.  They  fought  it  out  fast  and  furi- 
ous, and  of  course  were  obliged  to  change 
the  day,  such  is  Chicago's  loyalty  to  its 
pet  musical  institution,  and  incidentally 
its  loyalty  to  Mr.  Theodore  Thomas,  who 
has  done  so  much  for  music  in  the  West. 

During  the  intermission  Mrs.  Drexel 
asked  Mrs.  Peabody  if  she  did  not  think 
that  the  Thomas  Orchestra  compared  very 
favourably  with  the  Boston  one. 

Having  a  truly  New  England  con- 
science, Mrs.  Peabody  replied :  "  I  think, 
of  course,  that  this  is  a  very  delightful 
orchestra,  but  I  must  say,  in  truth,  that 
it  is  not  quite  such  a  perfect  organisation 
as  the  Boston  Symphony.  To  my  think- 
ing there  could  not  be  a  better  conductor 
anywhere  than  Mr.  Gericke.  He  gets 
more  from  his  men  than  any  conductor 
that  I  ever  saw." 

"  That  is  all  very  true,"  answered  Alice 
Russell.  "  He  may  get  more  from  his 
men,  but  the  people  do  not  get  as  much 
from  him  as  they  do  from  Mr.  Thomas. 
I  feel  that  I  know  something  about  the 
Boston  Symphony  concerts,  as  I  have 
i68 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO'-^ 

been  attending  them  the  greater  part  of 
my  life,  and  I  must  say  this  in  justice  to 
Chicago,  that  the  orchestra  here  gives 
us  things  that  have  never  been  played  in 
Boston,  and  another  thing,  which  to  me 
is  one  of  the  greatest  in  favour  of  the 
Chicago  orchestra,  that  it  is  not  Hke  the 
choir  of  the  cherubim,  where  one  has  to 
die  before  he  can  enter  and  hear  its  sacred 
music  as  you  do  in  Boston.  I  think  the 
one  thing  that  should  be  democratic  is 
art." 

"  Surely.  Mrs.  Russell  you  certainly 
are  not  going  to  give  second  place  to 
Boston  as  a  musical  centre  in  comparison 
with  Chicago?"  asked  Mrs.  Peabody,  in 
surprise. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  am  when  it  comes  to 
these  concerts."  replied  Alice.  "  I  never 
knew  the  difference  until  I  came  here  and 
enjoyed  the  luxury  of  going  to  hear  splen- 
did music  conducted  in  a  sensible  manner. 
In  the  first  place,  we  have  plenty  of  room 
here  in  this  Auditorium;  every  one  has 
a  chance.  In  Boston,  you  know,  Mrs. 
Peabody,  we  not  only  have  to  buy  our 
169 


W:THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

season  tickets  at  auction,  but  we  have  to 
pay  a  premium  besides,  which  is  really 
disgusting  when  you  stop  to  think  of  it." 

"  What  do  people  do  who  can't  afford 
to  buy  season  tickets  at  a  premium;  for 
instance,  art  students,  and  teachers  who 
enjoy  good  music,  and  really  need  it  as 
a  part  of  their  education  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Drexel. 

"  That  is  just  it,"  replied  Alice ;  "  that 
is  what  I  am  complaining  about.  Here 
you  can  come  in  any  afternoon,  no  matter 
what  particular  star  may  be  the  attrac- 
tion, and  you  can  come  in  at  any  time 
of  the  afternoon  or  evening,  and  be  sure 
of  getting  a  fairly  good  seat  for  fifty  or 
seventy-five  cents,  or  you  can  go  up  in 
the  gallery,  where  you  see  all  those  nice- 
looking  people  sitting  now,  and  get  a 
seat  for  twenty-five  cents." 

"  Can't  you  do  that  in  Boston?  "  asked 
Mrs.  Drexel. 

"  No,   indeed ;   if  you   do  not  happen 

to  have  two  dollars  and  a  half  to  buy  a 

seat  among  the  elect,  the  next  best  thing 

that  you  can  do  is  to  get  one  ioi  tv/enty- 

170 


^.THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

five  cents  in  the  gallery,  but,  in  order  to 
do  this,  you  will  have  to  take  your  break- 
fast and  luncheon  with  you,  and  stand 
in  line,  waiting  for  your  turn  to  come, 
and,  should  there  be  a  celebrated  artist 
for  the  attraction,  there  will  be  such  a 
crush  in  the  line  that  frequently  women 
faint,  and  almost  have  their  clothes  torn 
off  from  them,  or  get  in  a  fight,  or  do 
some  other  dreadful  thing." 

"  I  should  fancy  that  music  came  high 
in  Boston,"  said  one  of  the  men  in  the 
party.  "  It  must  be  something  like  the 
Stock  Exchange." 

"  I  was  amused  the  other  day  when 
Mrs.  Bela  said  that  it  was  easier  for  that 
poor  old  camel  to  get  through  the  eye  of 
a  needle  than  it  was  for  a  poor  person 
to  get  through  a  Symphony  Concert  in 
Boston,"  said  Alice,  laughingly.  "  We 
certainly  have  to  make  a  struggle  for  art 
there.  Indeed,  I  wish  the  Boston  Sym- 
phony Committee  would  come  out  here 
and  take  a  few  lessons  from  this  organi- 
sation for  the  benefit  of  the  people  in 
the  East.  Mr.  Thomas  may  not  be  quite 
171 


^.THE  RUS SELLS  IX  CHICAGO'-^ 

such  an  emotional  conductor  as  Mr.  Ge- 
ricke,  but,  on  the  whole,  I  think  his  orches- 
tra, and  especially  the  management  of  it, 
decidedly  better  than  the  Boston  Sym- 
phony." 

An  event  which  was  destined  to  have 
a  distinct  influence  upon  Alice  Russell 
was  brought  about  by  an  invitation  which 
she  received  to  attend  a  lecture  given  at 
Hull  House  by  a  prominent  socialist  who 
had  given  much  time  and  thought  to  the 
study  of  helping  the  poorer  class  in  a 
practical  way. 

Alice  had  a  vague  idea  of  Hull  House; 
it  had  never  come  her  way  to  be  inter- 
ested in  it  or  to  hear  much  of  it.  Her 
charities  had  all  been  at  long  distances 
from  the  poor  themselves,  as  she  had  al- 
ways been  connected  with  the  Board  of 
Directors  as  secretary,  treasurer,  or  some 
other  prominent  position  of  that  kind. 
She  had  never  come  in  personal  contact 
with  real  poverty  and  did  not  have  the 
faintest  conception  of  it.  It  was  impos- 
sible for  her  to  believe  that  there  were 
172 


WiTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

people  in  the  world  who  really  did  not 
have  enough  to  eat.  She  took  it  for 
granted  that  everybody  in  the  world  had 
roasts  or  chops  at  least  once  or  twice  a 
week,  if  not  oftener. 

To  be  sure  she  had  read  about  poverty, 
sin,  and  crime,  but  such  things  did  not 
mean  much  to  her  save  as  subjects  for 
stories,  like  any  other  fairy  tale.  She 
also  knew  that  there  were  labour  strikes 
and  other  dreadful  things  going  on  in 
the  world  somewhere,  but  she  thought 
these  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  poor 
people  were  an  unreasonable  lot,  always 
discontented  and  taking  advantage  of 
their  employers. 

Consequently,  wdien  she  went  to  Hull 
House,  and  became  acquainted  with  the 
object  of  its  existence,  and  saw  life  as 
it  really  was,  it  seemed  to  her  as  if  she 
were  in  an  entirely  different  world.  She 
could  not  grasp  it  all ;  it  was  too  big  and 
broad  for  her  narrow  mind.  She  sat 
spellbound  during  the  lecture,  drinking 
in  every  word,  and  hearing,  for  the  first 
time  in  her  life,  about  the  tragedies  of 
173 


mTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

little  children  of  nine  and  ten  years  of 
age,  sent  out  into  the  world  for  the  sup- 
port of  families. 

She  also  heard  of  "  sweat-shops,"  and 
what  they  were,  and  what  they  meant  to 
the  poor  mothers  who  were  trying  to  keep 
body  and  soul  together.  It  was  all  so 
terrible  to  Alice  that  it  was  hard  for  her 
to  believe  that  such  a  state  of  things  really 
did  exist.  It  was  only  by  looking  at  the 
earnest,  sincere  faces  of  the  men  and 
women  present  at  the  lecture  that  she  was 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  she  heard. 
It  seemed  to  her  that  she  would  smother 
from  the  oppression  of  so  much  suffering. 

After  the  lecture  was  over  she  was 
taken  about  Hull  House  and  given  some 
idea  of  the  immense  good  the  noble  men 
and  women  who  have  sacrificed  their  lives 
to  help  mankind  are  there  quietly  doing 
from  day  to  day.  She  was  invited  to 
remain  for  dinner  and  meet  Miss  Addams, 
the  "  Guardian  Angel  "  of  Hull  House, 
but  Alice  had  so  much  food  for  thought 
that  she  could  not  digest  anything  more. 
She  longed  to  get  home  to  the  quiet  of 
174 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

her  own  room,  where  she  could  think  it 
all  over  and  bring  herself  to  the  realisa- 
tion of  such  a  condition  of  life  as  she 
had  seen. 

The  outcome  of  her  visit  was  that  she 
gave  up  everything  in  the  way  of  clubs 
and  outside  charities  to  devote  herself 
absolutely  to  working  in  the  cause  of  poor 
humanity  at  Hull  House.  She  went  into 
it  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  her  nature. 
It  gave  her  something  definite  to  work 
for.  She  laboured  and  toiled  in  the  vine- 
yard of  Hull  House,  looking  upon  Miss 
Addams  as  the  "  Kindly  Light,"  with 
reverence  for  her  life  of  kindly  deeds. 
She  became  deeply  interested  in  the  young 
women  at  the  "  Jane  House."  and  tried 
to  help  them  in  many  ways,  but  she  soon 
found  out  that  they  did  not  need  her 
assistance  half  as  much  as  she  needed 
theirs.  They  were  all  young,  energetic, 
contented  girls,  living  on  a  cooperative 
system  that  was  most  successful  for  their 
happiness  and  best  interests.  Indeed,  it 
was  said  that  these  same  girls  were  so 
attractive  and  made  their  lives  so  cheerful 
1 75 


that  they  were  sought  after  by  all  the 
promising  young  men  in  town,  and  that 
there  were  more  marriages  made  in  the 
"  Jane  House  "  than  there  were  in  heaven. 
Emily  Everett  had  gone  to  California, 
so  that  Alice  was  left  alone  to  work  out 
her  own  happiness  in  her  own  way,  and 
this  was  by  spending  the  greater  part  of 
her  time  at  Hull  House  or  going  about 
visiting  the  poor,  while  Ned  lived  his  life 
as  independently  as  she.  They  were  ap- 
parently on  very  friendly  terms,  and 
there  was  no  friction  as  far  as  any  one 
could  see.  Ned,  when  not  out  for  dinner, 
spent  the  greater  part  of  his  time  at 
home  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of 
his  law  cases,  which  consumed  a  large 
portion  of  his  time.  Immediately  after 
dinner  he  would  generally  go  to  his  den, 
which  would  be  the  last  that  Alice  w^ould 
see  of  him  until  at  breakfast  the  next 
morning.  In  this  way  she  was  left  en- 
tirely to  herself  and  to  the  loneliest  kind 
of  existence.  She  loved  her  husband 
deeply  and  faithfully,  and  it  was  because 
of  the  intense  love  she  had  for  him  that 
176 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO-^ 

she  was  so  unhappy  and  miserable.  She 
wanted  all  his  love  and  attention  here  in 
the  West.  She  was  willing  to  share  him 
with  her  friends  in  the  East,  because 
they  were  her  own  people,  but  here  it 
was  different. 

Her  work  among  the  poor  brought  her 
in  close  personal  contact  with  the  seamy 
side  of  human  nature,  which  was  just 
what  she  needed,  and  although  she  did 
not  realise  it,  her  efforts  for  their  relief 
were  doing  her  far  more  good,  in  broad- 
ening and  teaching  her  lessons  of  sym- 
pathy, than  all  that  she  did  for  them.  She 
felt  that  she  was  not  very  successful 
among  these  people,  where  poverty  and 
suffering  had  made  them  keen  to  appre- 
ciate human  nature.  They  felt  instinc- 
tively that  while  she  was  trying  to  help 
them,  still  she  did  not  have  that  divine 
touch  of  sympathy  that  reaches  every 
human  heart  when  it  is  sincere  and 
honest. 

Alice  heard  many  homely  truths  from 
these  poor  people,  truths  that  set  her  to 
thinking  that,  after  all,  her  way  possibly 
177 


WtTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

was  not  right.  She  knew  that,  no  matter 
what  she  did,  she  could  not  win  the  love 
and  affection  of  the  poor  children  as  the 
other  workers  in  Hull  House  did,  and 
she  at  last  realised  that  it  was  because  of 
her  coldness  and  repression,  of  which  she 
had  heretofore  been  so  proud  as  a  mark 
of  good  breeding.  The  more  she  saw  of 
the  women  of  Hull  House,  the  more  she 
admired  them  and  worked  earnestly  to 
be  like  them.  She  noticed  that  they  did 
not  constantly  repress  themselves.  They 
were  all  ready  and  willing  to  give  of  their 
help  and  loving  sympathy  to  all  who  came 
to  them  for  comfort. 

She  found  that  this  strong  desire  to 
help  the  poor  was  the  ruling  spirit  of 
Chicago,  where  the  parks  were  given 
over  to  the  people.  She  seldom  saw 
"  Keep  off  the  Grass  "  signs  anywhere  in 
the  parks.  Men,  women,  and  children 
were  allowed  to  roam  all  over  the  beauti- 
ful grounds,  and  it  seemed  to  her  that 
here  the  park  system  was  essentially  for 
the  poor,  and  not  for  the  rich.  Most 
surprising  of  all  was  the  announcement 
178 


^.THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

in  the  morning  papers  that  "  owing  to  the 
intense  heat  the  poor  people  would  be 
allowed  to  sleep  in  the  park  until  the 
weather  was  cooler."  Never  in  all  her 
life  had  she  seen  such  a  sight  as  followed 
after  this  announcement.  From  six 
o'clock  until  dusk  the  poor,  worn-out 
families  that  had  dragged  themselves 
through  the  -heat  of  a  city's  day  could 
be  seen  entering  the  park  with  a  roll  of 
bedclothing  to  sleep  upon,  an  old  quilt 
or  a  pillow  for  the  little  children,  or  a 
wee  hammock  strung  on  the  trees  for  a 
baby.  And  so  it  was  that  the  city  fathers 
so  kindly  looked  after  their  unfortunate 
family,  allowing  them  to  sleep  upon  the 
beautiful  lawn  listening  to  the  song  of 
the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  giving  the 
men  and  women  a  chance  to  rest  for  the 
burdens  of  the  next  day.  As  her  husband 
said :  "  That  in  itself  would  make  him 
love  Chicago." 

The  Fresh  Air  Sanitarium  for  babies 

and     little     children    was     another    fine 

thing  in  Chicago.     Situated  as  it  is  on 

the  Lake  Shore  Drive  and  on  a  beautiful 

179 


W'.THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

beach  in  Lincoln  Park,  it  is  an  ideal  spot 
to  which  to  bring  the  sick  little  ones. 
Alice  was  as  interested  in  this  as  she  was 
in  Hull  House,  and  spent  many  an  hour 
watching  the  nurses  and  doctors  care  for 
some  miserable  little  baby  in  its  struggle 
for  life  after  its  escape  from  a  tenement- 
house. 

All  day  long  small  boys  splashed  and 
played  in  the  water,  swimming  and  hav- 
ing a  fine  time,  which  made  them  forget 
that  they  were  not  sons  of  some  rich  man. 
Indeed,  they  were  far  happier  than  if 
they  had  been. 


180 


^^.THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 


CHAPTER    XL 

Tfe^  LICE  had  been  associated 
^!  *  i^  with  Hull  House  for  some 
^i  '^  i^  months  when  she  was  told  of 
Bl^S  ^  yo""§^  S^^l  ^ho  was  very 
ill  in  a  miserable  tenement-house.  She 
went  immediately  to  see  her,  and  found 
the  girl  in  a  wretched  condition.  She  was 
not  over  twenty,  —  poor  and  apparently 
absolutely  friendless.  Alice  could  not  get 
her  to  tell  anything  about  herself,  as  the 
girl  refused  to  tell  even  her  own  name  or 
who  her  people  were,  but  said  her  name 
now  was  Ethel  Converse. 

This  was  the  first  time  that  Alice  had 
ever  been  brought  in  contact  with  what 
the  world  calls  "  a  social  outcast,"  and, 
sorry  as  she  felt  for  the  poor  girl  who 
had  been  so  wretchedly  ill  and  forsaken, 
still  her  conventional  training  made  her 
shrink  from  the  girl  as  though  she  had 
leprosy.  She  tried  to  overcome  the  feel- 
ing of  repugnance  that  came  over  her,  but 
i8i 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

it  seemed  impossible  for  her  to  do  so. 
The  girl  was  extremely  sensitive  and 
rather  well  educated,  much  to  Alice's 
surprise,  as  she  imagined  women  of  that 
class  knew  no  such  thing  as  refinement  of 
feeling  or  sensitiveness.  Alice  was  anx- 
ious to  have  her  taken  to  the  hospital, 
but  the  girl  begged  not  to  be  sent  there, 
as  she  "  knew  she  was  not  very  ill  and 
would  soon  get  well,"  so  Alice  had  a 
doctor  sent  to  her,  who  said  that  she 
would  soon  recover  if  she  had  proper  food 
and  nourishment.  This  Alice  was  more 
than  willing  to  supply,  and  day  by  day 
Ethel  grew  stronger,  while  Alice  tried 
to  teach  her  to  live  a  better  kind  of  life 
than  she  had  been  living. 

Alice  devoted  herself  to  the  girl  and 
became  greatly  interested  in  her.  She 
began  by  talking  to  her  about  a  higher 
and  purer  life  in  a  cold,  impersonal,  ser- 
monising sort  of  way  that  had  no  effect 
whatever  upon  the  girl,  who  took  all  her 
fine  sayings  and  reduced  them  to  nothing 
by  her  practical  knowledge  of  life  and 
suffering.  Instead  of  teaching  Ethel  Con- 
182 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

verse  lessons  in  life,  it  ended  in  the  girl's 
teaching-  Alice  lessons  and  showing  her 
where  she  and  other  women  like  her 
failed   in  their  charitable  efforts. 

"  What  do  yoii  women  know  of  such 
a  life  as  mine  has  been?"  Ethel  would 
say.  "  Do  you  ever  stop  to  think  what 
my  temptations  were  ?  Do  you  ever  give 
us  any  charity  for  our  weaknesses?  You 
women  are  guarded  and  protected  from 
the  time  that  you  are  born  until  you  die. 
Who  protects  us  ?  Some  of  us  don't  even 
know  how  to  protect  ourselves.  You 
women  are  educated ;  you  have  every- 
thing to  make  you  good;  girls  like  me 
have  nothing.  Still  you  turn  from  us 
and  pull  your  skirts  aside  for  fear  they 
will  touch  us.  Even  you,  Mrs.  Russell, 
you  have  been  awfully  good  to  me  and 
I  appreciate  it;  still  you  can  do  nothing 
for  me,  because  you  cannot  put  yourself 
in  my  place  and  feel  what  my  life  has 
been.  Maybe  you  wouldn't  have  been  any 
better  than  I  am  if  you  were  left  as  I 
was  to  earn  your  living',  going  out  alone 
in  a  large  city  when  only  fifteen  years 
183 


W:THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

old.  I  know  you  wouldn't  touch  me  if 
you  could  help  it.  Do  you  suppose  that 
such  charity  is  going  to  do  girls  like 
me  much  good?  It  only  makes  us  feel 
bitter  and  much  worse  toward  the  world 
than  we  do.  Don't  think  I'm  not  grate- 
ful to  you  for  what  you  have  done  for 
me,  because  I  am." 

It  was  in  this  manner  that  Ethel  Con- 
verse talked  to  the  aristocratic  Alice  Rus- 
sell, and  that  made  Alice  see  herself  in  a 
new  and  not  very  pleasant  light.  She 
realised  that  every  word  the  girl  said 
was  absolutely  just  and  true;  her  words 
sank  deep  into  her  barren  heart;  they 
took  root  and  seemed  to  change  her  whole 
ideas  of  life  tremendously.  She  began  to 
think  what  a  false  foundation  it  was  upon 
which  her  life  had  been  built ;  here  it  was 
crumbling  away  with  all  her  old  ideas  top- 
pling over.  She  felt  in  a  state  of  chaos 
and  could  not  seem  to  adjust  herself.  She 
thought  constantly  of  the  many  things 
that  seeemed  so  to  change  her  views.  She 
had  been  with  Ethel  Converse  almost 
every  other  day  for  three  weeks ;  she  was 
184 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

fascinated  by  her  knowledge  of  life  and 
was  eager  to  hear  more  and  more  of  it. 
Unconsciously  she  was  drinking  in  the 
essence  of  humanity  from  this  sin-tired 
and  world-weary  soul.  It  was  a  strange 
freak  of  fate  that  this  hopeless  young 
girl  should  be  the  means  of  awakening 
a  soul  that  had  been  frozen  by  purity 
beyond  all  feeling  of  sympathy  for  its 
fellow  man. 

Alice  listened  greedily  as  one  famished 
for  the  worldly  wisdom  and  charity,  and 
the  broad,  honest  views  of  life  that  this 
young  girl  taught  her  by  her  earnest  and 
truthful  conversation.  Ethel  Converse 
had  an  unusual  mind,  and  Alice  appre- 
ciated it  fully. 

Little  Dick  had  not  been  feeling  well 
for  several  days,  consequently  his  mother 
was  obliged  to  remain  at  home  with  him. 
She  missed  her  visits  to  Ethel  Converse, 
as  there  were  many  things  she  wanted 
to  ask  her  that  she  never  would  have  asked 
a  woman  in  her  own  station  of  life.  She 
did  not  hesitate  to  show  the  barrenness 
of  her  nature  to  this  young  girl  as  she 
i8s 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHLCAGO'f^ 

would  not  have  done  to  one  of  her  own 
friends.  She  worried,  too,  about  Ethel, 
because  she  could  not  get  to  her ;  she  was 
still  weak,  but  was  daily  growing  much 
better.  Alice  thought  of  asking  one  of 
her  friends  at  Hull  House  to  go  over  to 
see  Ethel  while  she  was  kept  away,  but 
as  she  had  never  mentioned  this  case  to 
the  women  at  Hull  House,  keeping  it 
for  her  own  especial  work,  and  knowing 
the  sensitiveness  of  the  girl  toward 
strangers,  she  hesitated  to  speak  of  it  to 
the  women  at  Hull  House,  thinking  that 
in  a  few  days  she  would  be  able  to  see 
Ethel  herself.  A  week  had  passed  by 
when  one  day  a  man  called  at  the  house 
to  see  her  on  important  business.  He 
came  to  tell  her  that  a  young  woman  had 
committed  suicide  the  night  before  by 
jumping  from  the  "  Bridge  of  Sighs  " 
into  the  lagoon  at  Lincoln  Park;  that 
her  body  was  at  the  morgue;  that  she 
had  been  identified  by  the  people  with 
whom  she  lived  as  Ethel  Converse,  and 
that  he  had  found  a  note  in  the  girl's 
room  addressed  to  Mrs.  Russell,  which 
i86 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

he  had  brought  to  her,  as  he  had  heard 
that  she  had  been  a  friend  to  the  girl 
while  she  was  ill. 

Alice  took  the  note  from  the  man,  her 
hand  shaking  so  she  could  scarcely  open 
it.     She  read : 

"  Dear  Mrs.  Russell  :  —  There  is  no 
use  of  my  trying  to  live  any  longer.  You 
have  been  very  good  and  kind  to  me, 
kinder  than  any  one  has  ever  been,  but 
even  you  could  not  make  it  any  better 
for  me.  You  meant  well,  but  you  didn't 
know  how.     Few  women  do. 

"It  is  only  when  women  can  forget  their 
own  protected  lives,  and  remember  that 
after  all  God  made  us  all  alike,  and  that 
under  the  same  circumstances  and  temp- 
tations they  might  all  do  exactly  the 
same  thing  that  has  caused  the  ruin  of 
other  women's  lives,  that  the  good  w^omen 
will  be  able  to  help  the  bad,  because  at 
heart,  I  guess,  nearly  all  bad  women  are 
good.  It  is  only  a  question  of  circum- 
stances and  opportunity. 

"  If  some  good  woman  had  only  let  me 
187 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

feel  that  she  could  have  taken  me  as  her 
friend,  there  would  have  been  some  hope 
for  me  in  life  and  I  would  have  tried  to 
keep  the  struggle  up.  Maybe  God  will 
have  pity  even  if  the  world  has  not. 
Thank  you  for  your  great  kindness  to 
me.  Ethel  Converse." 

When  Alice  had  finished  reading  the 
letter  she  turned  to  the  officer  and  asked 
where  the  girl's  body  had  been  taken. 
When  she  heard  that  it  was  still  at  the 
morgue  she  requested  the  officer  to  wait 
until  she  sent  for  a  cab,  and  then  asked 
him  to  go  with  her.  Without  a  moment's 
hesitation  she  went  direct  to  the  morgue, 
a  thing  she  would  not  have  dreamed  of 
doing  three  weeks  before.  When  the 
man  rolled  the  sheet  away  from  the  face 
of  Ethel  Converse,  and  Alice  saw  the 
gentle,  restful  expression  that  death  in 
loving  kindness  had  left  there,  something 
seemed  to  snap  in  Alice's  heart;  the 
flood-gates  were  loosed  after  all  these 
years,  and  her  whole  body  was  convulsed 
with  grief.  Taking  the  thin,  cold  hands 
1 88 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

in  hers  she  said  to  herself:  "You  were 
my  friend;  you  it  was  who  taught  me 
how  to  hve,  and  showed  me  the  utter 
selfishness  of  my  life,  and  I  could  do 
nothing  for  you.  I  loved  you,  but  I  did 
not  have  the  courage  to  tell  you  so ;  but 
now  you  must  know  that  I  at  last 
have  taken  you  as  my  friend,  and  I  will 
be  true  and  faithful  to  what  you  have 
taught  me." 

Before  leaving  she  left  an  order  with 
the  man  in  charge  to  have  Ethel  Con- 
verse buried  as  was  befitting  a  friend  of 
hers.  Going  out  to  Graceland  Cemetery 
she  bought  a  lot,  and  alone  with  the 
sexton  she  saw  her  friend  laid  away  to 
rest. 

The  death  of  Ethel  Converse  made  a 
great  change  in  Alice  Russell.  Every- 
thing that  the  girl  had  ever  said  came 
back  to  her;  the  more  she  thought  of  it 
the  more  clearly  she  saw  what  a  fearful 
mistake  she  had  made  all  through  life. 
It  came  over  her  with  a  crushing  force, 
making  her  much  more  gentle  and  tender. 
She  had  not  mentioned  a  word  of  all 
189 


this  experience  to  her  husband;  it  made 
too  deep  an  impression  for  her  to  talk 
of  it  with  him.  Now  that  this  revelation 
of  herself  had  come  to  her,  she  felt  farther 
away  from  him  than  ever,  although  loving 
him  more. 

She  went  to  Miss  Addams,  at  Hull 
House,  and  told  her  the  whole  story. 
It  was  then  for  the  first  time  that  she 
knew  what  the  look  of  suffering  that 
was  ever  in  the  eyes  of  Miss  Addams 
meant;  she  was  suffering  with  all  those 
with  whom  she  came  in  contact;  their 
sufferings  were  her  sufferings,  and  she 
gave  them  from  the  great  strength  of  her 
great  soul  the  strength  to  bear  their 
burdens.  She  would  have  given  them 
the  last  drop  of  her  blood  had  it  been 
necessary;  her  comfort  to  all  who  came 
to  her  was  almost  divine,  it  was  so  help- 
ful and  healing.  Even  now,  as  Alice 
talked  to  Miss  Addams,  she  too  felt  the 
sympathy  that  came  to  her. 

Miss  Addams  saw  the  workings  of  her 
two  natures,  and  tried  to  help  her,  as  she 
said :  "  It  is  indeed  hard  to  know  what 
190 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

to  do  in  such  cases.  It  has  always  seemed 
to  me  as  though  one  must  have  an  ahnost 
supernatural  inspiration  to  deal  with  a 
human  life.  I  think  we  all  go  into  such 
things  altogether  too  carelessly.  A  life 
is  much  too  complex  and  fearful  a  thing 
to  meddle  with  unless  we  have  a  perfect 
understanding  of  what  it  may  mean.  I 
never  interfere  with  one  if  I  can  possibly 
help  it.  It  is  much  too  dangerous.  If 
w^e  can  show  men  or  w'omen  how  to  live, 
and  convince  them  that  we  really  are  one 
with  them,  that  is  enough ;  but  the  other 
half-baked  socialistic  interference  on  the 
part  of  the  average  woman  who  has  given 
the  subject  no  thought  is  to  me  something 
appalling.  Of  course,  you  tried  to  do  the 
best  you  knew^  how^ ;  but  unless  you  can 
fully  understand  these  poor  people  you 
generally  do  more  harm  than  good.  Still 
in  this  instance  it  may  have  all  happened 
for  the  best.  It  is  hard  to  say  what  the 
outcome  of  such  lives  may  be.  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  there  is  something  in 
all  our  own  lives  that  needs  as  much 
care  and  attention  as  these  faults  and 
191 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

vices  that  we  are  so  quick  to  see  in  other 
lives." 

These  words  of  Miss  Addams  sank 
deep  into  the  heart  of  AHce  Russell.  The 
ground  of  her  nature  was  now  fertile 
enough  for  the  seeds  of  such  spiritual  and 
worldly  wisdom  as  Miss  Addams  and 
Ethel  Converse  had  sown  to  take  effect. 

She  now  realised  how  utterly  selfish  her 
life  had  been.  Her  nature  had  always 
been  repressed  until  all  the  human  and 
kind  instincts  that  she  once  may  have 
had  were  warped  and  dried  up.  Her 
New  England  conscience  gave  her  no 
peace.  A  curtain  seemed  to  have  been 
lifted,  and  she  saw  herself  as  she  really 
was,  and  always  had  been,  cold,  critical, 
and  entirely  self-centred. 

Her  life  in  the  West  had  at  last  taught 
her  that  one  great  lesson.  She  was  now 
heartily  ashamed  of  all  her  narrow  views 
and  the  discontent  that  she  had  shown  ever 
since  coming  to  Chicago.  She  knew  that 
she  had  made  it  infinitely  harder  for  her 
husband  by  her  constant  faultfinding 
and  complaining  of  conditions  in  Chi- 
192 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^: 

cago.  She  had  not  tried  to  help  him  in 
any  way,  either  by  making  friends  or  be- 
ing contented  in  her  own  home.  Her  one 
desire  had  been  to  go  back  East,  and  the 
more  unhappy  her  husband  was,  and  the 
harder  it  seemed  for  him  to  get  along, 
the  happier  it  made  her,  as  she  thought 
that  would  induce  him  to  return  East. 
She  now  saw  her  faults  with  the  clear- 
ness of  the  sunlight  and  longed  with  an 
intense  longing  to  do  differently.  Life 
seemed  to  open  up  to  her  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent view  of  things ;  her  mind  seemed 
to  expand,  and  her  whole  nature  was 
developing  under  her  recent  experiences. 


193 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 


CHAPTER    XII. 

glED  RUSSELL  noticed  that 
his  wife  seemed  unusually 
quiet  and  preoccupied,  but  he 
thought  it  best  not  to  make 
any  comments,  as  he  thought  she  was 
getting  more  and  more  homesick.  It 
made  him  wretchedly  unhappy  that  his 
wife  could  not  adapt  herself  to  life  here. 
It  was  hard  for  her  to  give  in,  doubly 
so  as  she  realised  that  she  had  been  most 
to  blame;  it  would  have  been  quite  im- 
possible for  her  to  go  to  her  husband 
and  confess  to  him  that  at  last  she  knew 
what  a  mistake  she  had  made  and  was 
sorry.  It  was  not  in  her  nature  to  humble 
herself  so;  instead  she  thought  she  would 
do  all  she  could  from  now  on  to  prove  to 
him  that  she  was  willing  to  accept  his 
friends  and  make  her  life  more  in  accord- 
ance with  his.  It  was  really  for  this 
reason  that  she  decided  to  go  with  him  to 
Mrs.  Naylor's  musicale.  She  knew  the 
194 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  LV  CHICAGO'^ 

ordeal  vvonkl  be  hard,  but  that  did  not 
deter  her  from  the  purpose  once  her 
mind  was  made  up. 

As  Ahce  and  Ned  drove  away  there 
was  an  evident  air  of  embarrassment  be- 
tween them.  Ahce  felt  that  her  husband 
would  have  been  much  more  comfortable 
if  she  had  remained  at  home,  and  she  was 
half  sorry  that  she  had  decided  to  come 
with  him ;  still,  he  was  exceedingly  polite 
if  abstracted,  as  though  wondering  to 
himself  what  motive  had  prompted  her 
to  come  out  of  her  shell. 

Mrs.  Naylor  was  as  surprised  to  see 
Ned  with  his  wife  as  his  other  friends 
were.  She  noticed  that  Mrs.  Russell  had 
changed  very  much  since  she  last  saw  her, 
and  looked  very  sad.  It  was  evident  to 
Lily  Naylor,  who  was  a  keen  student  of 
human  nature,  that  Alice  was  far  from 
happy,  but  in  the  crush  of  coming  guests 
she  had  little  time  to  give  her  much 
thought,  and  soon  forgot  her  existence 
after  that  one  glimpse  of  her  as  she 
entered  the  room. 

Ned  was  soon  carried  away  by  his 
195 


^.THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

friends,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  too 
forgot  about  his  wife,  which  was  rather 
natural  as  she  had  not  been  much  on  his 
mind  in  society.  Alice  wandered  around 
the  house  after  the  musicale,  trying  to  be 
civil  to  women  whom  she  had  never 
before  noticed,  but  she  did  not  receive 
much  encouragement.  Every  one  seemed 
very  happy;  she  felt  all  alone  among 
these  people,  and  wandered  about  as  the 
greatest  stranger.  People  were  kind 
enough  to  her,  but  no  one  stopped  more 
than  a  second  to  say  "  Good  evening," 
then  went  on  to  more  congenial  company. 
She  went  around  the  house  like  a  lost 
soul,  feeling  her  loneliness  more  and 
more  every  minute.  She  realised  how 
utterly  Ned  had  forgotten  her,  and  how 
little  necessary  she  now  was  to  his  happi- 
ness. She  wandered  on  until  she  came 
to  a  deep  alcove  at  the  end  of  the  con- 
servatory where  it  was  cool  and  dark. 
The  light  from  the  electric  arc  on  the 
street  made  fitful  shadows  among  the 
palms;     it   was   restful    and   quiet   here, 


[96 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  FN  CHICAGO'-^ 

the  music  from  the  orchestra  scarcely 
reaching  the  distance. 

Ahce  had  been  standing  at  the  windows 
watching  the  moonHght  on  the  lake  when 
she  heard  some  one  coming.  Turning 
aside  a  litde,  she  saw  Lily  Naylor  coming 
toward  her  alone.  She  seemed  very  tired, 
and  leaned  wearily  against  the  casement 
of  the  window  at  the  other  end  of  the 
window-seat.  Alice  was  just  about  to 
come  out  from  under  the  foliage  which 
concealed  her  when  she  saw  her  husband 
coming  in ;  she  supposed  that  he  was 
looking  for  her  and  waited  until  he  came 
nearer  before  coming  out  to  meet  him. 

Going  over  to  where  he  saw  Lily  Nay- 
lor sitting  on  the  window-seat,  Alice 
heard  him  say  to  her : 

"  I  saw  you  coming  in  here  alone,  and 
fearing  that  you  were  ill  I  followed." 

"  No,  I  am  not  ill,  but  I  am  exceedingly 
tired  to-night."  There  was  a  pathetic 
note  of  sadness  in  her  voice  that  Ned 
had  never  heard  before ;  it  seemed  like 
a    glimpse    of    her    inner    self    that    she 


197 


W:THE  R  us  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^. 


speaking. 

"  There  is  such  a  crush  in  the  rooms 
that  I  stole  away  in  here,  where  it  is 
always  quiet,  for  a  moment's  rest." 

Ned  seated  himself  beside  her  on  the 
window-seat  with  his  back  toward  Alice, 
who  was  within  reaching  distance  of  them. 

They  sat  in  perfect  silence  for  some 
minutes  in  the  moonlight  looking  out 
toward  the  lake;  at  last  Lily  Naylor 
aroused  herself  as  if  from  a  dream, 
saying : 

"  I  must  be  going  back  to  my  guests ; 
they  will  think  that  I  have  deserted  them. 
I  do  get  so  tired  of  this  sort  of  thing,  and 
I  am  so  unutterably  weary  of  the  hollow- 
ness  of  it  all." 

As  she  started  to  rise  from  the  seat  her 
slipper  caught  in  the  lace  of  her  dress 
skirt,  and  she  stumbled.  As  she  fell 
toward  Ned  he  quickly  caught  her  in  his 
arms  and  held  her  close  to  his  heart. 

Pushing  him  from  her  in  amazement, 
Lily  Naylor  looked  him  in  the  eyes. 


^MTHE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

"  Ned !  how  could  you  do  such  a  thing 
to  me  ?  " 

Holding  out  his  hand  to  her,  he  said : 
"  Forgive  me  for  being  such  a  cad.  I 
beg  your  pardon  a  thousand  times.  The 
accident  made  the  temptation  too  great 
for  me.  I  lost  all  control  of  myself.  Be- 
lieve me,  I  am  not  such  a  brute  as  I 
must  seem.     Say  that  you  forgive  me." 

Lily  Naylor  stood  thinking  for  a  mo- 
ment, then  said :  "  Ned,  I  am  very  sorry 
that  this  thing  has  happened.  I  am 
exceedingly  fond  of  you,  as  you  know.  I 
have  always  believed  in  you  and  trusted 
you." 

"  I  know  it,  and  that  is  the  reason  that 
I  feel  like  such  a  cad  now.  Ten  minutes 
ago  I  would  have  died  before  giving  way 
to  my  impulses  in  such  a  manner." 

Just  then  Lily  Naylor's  attention  was 
attracted  by  a  movement  of  one  of  the 
palm  leaves  near  her,  and  looking  in  its 
direction  she  saw  Alice  Russell  leaning 
against  the  window.  She  stood  in  the 
moonlight  with  eyes  closed,  looking  as 
though  the  life  had  been  crushed  out  of 
199 


W:THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHLCAGO^ 

her,  every  line  of  her  body  one  of  abject 
suffering. 

Fearing  that  Ned  might  see  his  wife, 
and  with  a  desire  to  help  her,  Lily  Naylor 
took  his  hand  and  led  him  from  the  con- 
servatory,  saying : 

"  I  will  forgive  you  this  time,  Ned. 
Now,  my  dear,  I  have  a  favour  to  ask  of 
you.  I  want  you  to  go  home.  I  am 
very  tired,  as  I  told  you.  I  feel  that  we 
have  both  neglected  your  wife;  go  and 
find  her.  Be  as  tender  and  patient  with 
her  as  you  can,  and  we  will  forget  all 
about  to-night.  Good  night,  come  and 
see  us  soon." 

When,  after  a  long  search,  Ned  found 
his  wife,  she  was  seated,  much  to  his 
surprise,  where  he  and  Lily  Naylor  had 
been  a  short  time  before.  Alice  was 
looking  out  across  the  lake,  and  was  so 
absorbed  in  her  thoughts  that  she  did 
not  hear  him  coming.  She  was  entirely 
unconscious  of  his  presence  until  she 
heard  him  say:  *'  Where  have  you  been? 
I've  been  looking  all  over  the  house  for 
vou," 


^THE  RUSSELL S  LN  CHICAGO'-^ 

As  she  turned  to  answer  him  he  was 
so  struck  by  the  deathly  pallor  of  her  face 
and  its  drawn  look  of  suffering  that  he 
exclaimed:  *' Why,  what  is  the  matter? 
You  are  ill." 

"  Yes,  I  am  ill ;  would  you  mind  taking 
me  home,  Ned  ?  " 

Her  voice  was  plaintively  sweet  and 
gentle ;  he  saw  that  she  was  suffering, 
and  with  the  consciousness  of  his  own 
disloyalty  to  her  he  was  more  than  anx- 
ious to  be  as  kind  as  possible.  On  the 
way  home  he  tried  to  make  her  comfort- 
able, but  she  was  far  away  from  him, 
and  had  a  subtle  way  of  making  him  feel 
conscious  of  the  fact.  Here  it  was  that 
her  New  England  training  stood  her  in 
such  friendly  assistance.  Never  by  w^ord 
or  sign  did  she  let  Ned  know^  that  she  had 
overheard  his  conversation  w^ith  Mrs. 
Naylor.  She  would  have  suffered  the  most 
excruciating  torments  before  reproaching 
her  husband  with  his  disloyalty  to  her; 
she  was  much  too  well  bred  for  that  kind 
of  thing,  and  she  would  cheerfully  have 
died  before  lettinp-  him  know  the  cause 


^.THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO?^ 

of  her  suffering.  She  tried  with  all  the 
force  of  her  strong  will  to  live  her  life 
as  though  nothing  had  happened,  but  the 
strain  on  her  strength  was  too  great  not 
to  show  what  the  effort  cost  her. 

Some  few  weeks  after  this  episode, 
when  Ned  was  calling  on  Lily  Naylor,  she 
asked  him  how  his  wife  was.  Alice  Rus- 
sell was  a  subject  never  mentioned  be- 
tween Ned  or  any  of  his  friends.  She 
had  always  been  quietly  ignored,  but  ever 
since  the  glimpse  that  Lily  Naylor  had 
of  her  as  she  stood  leaning  against  the 
window,  the  pity  for  a  woman's  suffering 
had  so  fastened  itself  upon  her  that  she 
could  scarcely  get  Alice  Russell  out  of 
her  mind.  She  had  been  thinking  con- 
stantly of  her,  and  now  could  not  resist 
the  desire  of  talking  to  Ned  of  his  wife. 
She  knew  that  Alice  had  heard  and  seen 
all  that  had  happened  in  the  conservatory 
between  herself  and  Ned,  and  although  she 
felt  that  she  was  not  to  blame  for  it, 
and  really  did  not  care  in  the  least  for 
Alice  Russell,  still  the  fact  that  another 
woman  was  suffering  through  her  made 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

her  most  unhappy.  When  Ned  told  her 
that  his  wife  was  not  well,  and  that  he 
was  beginning  to  be  greatly  worried 
about  her,  as  he  could  see  her  failing  from 
day  to  day,  it  made  Lily  Naylor  more 
uncomfortable  than  ever. 

Ned  said :  "  I  sometimes  think  that 
I  ought  to  send  for  Aunt  Emily  and  have 
her  take  Mrs.  Russell  away.  I  don't 
know  what  to  do,  as  she  says  she  is  not 
ill  and  will  not  have  a  doctor.  I  feel 
sure  that  she  needs  a  change  and  that 
it  would  do  her  a  great  deal  of  good  to 
get  away  for  awhile,  but  she  doesn't 
seem  to  want  to  go  away,  or  to  do  any- 
thing." 

"  I  wonder  if  ]\Irs.  Russell  would  see 
me  if  I  called  upon  her?  I  haven't  seen 
much  of  her  lately,  as  I  have  been  so 
very  busy.  I  might  possibly  be  able  to 
do  something  for  her." 

Ned  did  not  answ^er,  because  he  knew 
that  his  wife  was  not  fond  of  Lily  Naylor, 
and  he  knew  that  Mrs.  Naylor  did  not 
care  for  his  wife;  consequently  her  in- 
terest now  was  one  of  sympathy,  and  he 
203 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^: 

did  not  care  to  put  his  wife  in  that  posi- 
tion. He  had  a  sense  of  chivalry  toward 
her  even  if  he  had  grown  indifferent  to 
her.  It  was  a  deUcate  position  for  a  man 
to  be  in,  and  instinctively  Mrs.  Naylor 
understood  it,  a  keen  insight  into  human 
nature  being  one  of  her  chief  charms, 
so  she  replied : 

"  Never  mind,  Ned,  I  understand ; 
nevertheless,  I  think  I  will  go  to  see 
Mrs.  Russell  and  try  to  make  her  like 
me.  I  never  cared  to  try  before,  but  I 
think  that  I  will  now.  When  is  her  re- 
ceiving day?  " 

"  Wednesday,  I  believe.  I  am  not  sure, 
however." 

"Why,  that's  to-morrow,  isn't  it? 
Don't  say  anything  about  my  coming, 
and  I  will  run  in  on  her  to-morrow  after- 
noon." 

Although  Lily  Naylor  was  a  thorough 
woman  of  the  world,  caring  little  what 
any  one  thought  of  her,  she  was  at  heart 
tender  and  sympathetic,  qualities  for 
which  the  world  in  general  did  not  give 
her  credit.  She  would  not  knowingly 
204 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHIC  AG  OW: 

cause  any  one  to  suffer.  To  be  sure,  she 
had  been  the  cause  of  much  unhappiness 
to  some  men,  but  that  did  not  mean  any- 
thing to  her,  as  she  argued  that  it  did 
men  good  to  suffer;  it  somewhat  evened 
up  things  for  the  women.  As  between  a 
man  and  woman  she  generally  took  the 
woman's  side  of  the  case  on  principle; 
she  had  a  remarkable  loyalty  to  her  own 
sex,  another  virtue  for  which  the  world 
did  not  give  her  credit.  She  had  worried 
a  good  deal  over  Alice  Russell  since  she 
had  seen  her  last;  the  memory  of  her 
haunted  her  constantly,  and  she  felt  that 
she  was  the  indirect  cause  of  all  Alice's 
unhappiness.  The  more  she  thought  of 
it  the  more  she  was  possessed  with  a 
strong  desire  in  some  way  to  help  her 
out  of  her  trouble.  She  was  sure  that  she 
could  do  something,  as  she  was  a  woman 
of  intense  personal  magnetism  when  she 
cared  to  exert  herself,  and  in  this  instance 
she  cared  very  much.  She  knew  that 
Mrs.  Russell  would  probably  hold  her  to 
blame  for  the  scene  that  she  had  witnessed 
between  her  and  Ned;  still  she  was 
205 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

willing  to   take  her   chances   of  proving 
her  innocence. 

She  never  faltered  in  her  resolution, 
and  the  next  day  she  called  upon  Mrs. 
Russell.  It  was  her  receiving  day,  and 
Jis  Mrs.  Naylor  entered  the  reception- 
room  she  found  other  callers,  who  re- 
mained for  a  few  moments  and  departed, 
leaving  them  alone.  It  was  late  in  the 
afternoon,  the  lamps  were  not  yet  lighted, 
and  only  the  blaze  from  the  grate  fire 
dispelled  the  shadow  of  the  room.  Alice 
Russell  was  much  surprised  to  receive  a 
call  from  Mrs.  Naylor,  and,  had  she  had 
the  chance,  would  have  excused  herself 
rather  than  see  her,  but  it  was  impossible 
now  to  avoid  the  ordeal,  although  she  was 
anything  but  cordial  in  her  greeting. 
Mrs.  Naylor  was  shocked  by  the  change 
that  a  few  weeks  had  produced  in  Mrs. 
Russell.  The  white  gown  that  she  wore 
made  her  look  more  spirituelle  than  ever. 
She  seemed  very  frail,  and  the  dark  rings 
under  her  eyes  told  of  sleepless  nights 
and  constant  suffering.  She  was  a  most 
pathetic  figure,  and  all  the  tenderness 
206 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHLCAGO'-^ 

and  sympathy  in  Lily  Naylor's  nature  was 
touched  and  roused  to  pity.  She  really 
longed  to  take  Alice  in  her  arms  and 
comfort  her.  After  the  maid  had  served 
the  tea,  she  disappeared,  leaving-  Lily 
Naylor  and  Mrs.  Russell  quite  alone.  A 
deep  silence  fell  upon  them,  as  each  was 
so  busy  thinking  that  she  almost  forgot 
the  other's  presence.  As  Lily  Naylor 
raised  her  e}-es  from  where  she  had  been 
staring  into  the  fire,  she  saw  Alice  Rus- 
sell looking  at  her  as  though  trying  to 
penetrate  her  very  soul.  It  was  such  a 
sad,  yearning  look  that  Lily  Naylor  got 
up  from  her  chair  and,  going  over  to 
where  Alice  sat,  said : 

"Won't  you  trust  me  a  little  bit?  I 
know  all  about  it,  my  dear.  I  saw  you 
that  night  in  the  conservatory  at  my 
house." 

Alice  Russell  made  no  reply ;  it  was 
only  by  the  sudden  tightening  of  her 
hands  that  Lily  Naylor  knew  that  she 
heard  what  she  had  said.  Alice  turned 
from  her,  leaning  toward  the  fire  as  if 
a  sudden  chill  had  fallen  upon  her.  Con- 
207 


WtTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

tinning  in  the  most  gentle  and   sympa- 
thetic way,  Lily  Naylor  said : 

"  I  wish  you  would  trust  me  a  little 
bit.  Believe  me,  my  dear,  Ned  Russell 
does  not  love  me."  Here  a  little  gasp 
from  Alice  showed  how  deeply  she  felt 
what  Lily  Naylor  said. 

"  No,  my  dear,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Ned 
loves  you,  and  loves  you  very  dearly,  but 
he  has  forgotten  it  for  the  time  being. 
I  give  you  my  word  of  honour  that  noth- 
ing like  what  you  saw  that  night  ever 
happened  before.  I  am  not  that  kind  of 
woman,  thank  God,  and  I  don't  think  that 
Ned  is  that  kind  of  man.  You  know  we 
all  make  mistakes,  and  if  you  will  forgive 
me  for  saying  so,  you  have  made  a  great 
mistake,  and  one  that  has  really  caused 
all  this  trouble." 

"  I  know  it  now,  but  it  is  too  late," 
came  in  a  moaning  voice  from  Alice  Rus- 
sell. Kneeling  by  her  side  and  taking 
the  poor  thin  hands  in  her  own  strong 
ones,  Lily  Naylor  took  advantage  of  this 
first  sign  of  weakness,  and  used  it  as  a 
means  to  enter  her  heart. 
208 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  No,  my  dear,  it  is  not  too  late.  It 
is  never  too  late  to  do  better.  As  I  said, 
Ned  still  loves  you  and  you  love  him. 
He  does  not  love  me;  he  never  did.  He 
thought  he  did  because  he  was  lonesome 
and  needed  some  woman's  affection.  You 
would  not  give  him  yours;  I  was  sorry 
for  him  and  unconsciously,  I  suppose,  I 
gave  him  more  friendship  and  sympathy 
than    I    otherwise   would." 

"  Oh,  I've  been  to  blame  for  it  all;  I 
know  that." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  I  must  say  that  you 
have.  You  see  we  women  have  to  keep 
on  making  our  husbands  love  us,  because 
if  we  don't  there  are  other  women  who 
will  take  our  places,  and  you  cannot  al- 
ways blame  the  men,  dear.  I  am  going 
to  be  very  honest  with  you  because  I  do 
want  to  help  you,  and  I  feel  that  I  have 
been  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  suffering 
to  you,  although  I  did  not  mean  to  do 
so.  I  never  liked  you  very  much,  my 
dear,  because  you  would  not  let  me. 
You  know  I  tried  when  you  and  Ned 
first  came  here  to  do  all  I  could  for 
209 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 

you,  but  you  would  not  have  it;  you  re- 
pulsed me  at  every  turn."  A  little  squeeze 
of  Alice's  fingers  in  Lily  Naylor's  hand 
told  more  strongly  than  words  that  she 
was  sorry.  "  You  see,  my  dear,  that  no 
one  of  us  is  exactly  a  Christian  martyr, 
and  I  am  afraid  that  we  do  not  do  good 
for  good's  sake  here  in  the  West  any  more 
than  in  the  East;  so  when  you  made  us 
all  feel  that  we  were  very  inferior  crea- 
tures from  your  Boston  standpoint,  why, 
we  just  let  you  alone.  I  suppose  we  are 
different  out  here,  but,  my  dear,  I  have 
been  East  among  your  friends  and  your 
class  of  people,  and  while  they  meant 
well,  still  I  could  not  live  among  them. 
Here  we  are  all  humian,  warm-hearted, 
and  generous.  If  you  would  only  let 
us,  we  would  do  all  that  is  possible  to 
make  your  life  happy.  Why,  just  look 
at  Ned  and  see  how  everybody  loves  him, 
and  think  how  well  he  has  done  in  the 
short  time  he  has  been  here.  There  is  no 
reason  why  you  and  he  should  not  be 
the  happiest  people  in   Chicago,   if  you 


^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

would  only  give  him  half  a  chance  and 
help  him." 

"  I  don't  know  how  to  help  him ;  be- 
sides, it  is  too  late  now.  I  couldn't  do 
anything  for  him." 

"  Nonsense,  dear,  don't  you  know  that 
it  is  never  too  late  to  make  your  husband 
love  you?  Just  you  trust  me,  have  con- 
fidence in  me,  and  I  will  help  you  get 
him  back  in  a  way  that  will  make  him 
love  you  more  than  he  ever  did  in  his 
life." 

In  this  way  Lily  Naylor  tried  to  cheer 
and  encourage  Alice,  who  seemed  to  have 
fallen  into  the  deepest  desolation  and 
discouragement.  She  saw  that  at  last 
she  had  reached  her  heart,  and  that 
for  the  first  time  since  she  had  known 
her  Alice  accepted  her  friendship.  The 
way  she  clung  to  her  hand  convinced  her 
that  she  was  opening  her  heart  to  let  her 
enter  into  its  loneliness. 

"  Now,  my  dear,  I  will  tell  you  what 
I  want  you  to  do.  I  must  go  soon,  be- 
cause I  don't  want  Ned  to  find  me  here. 
This  must  be  a  little  secret  between  our- 

211 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

selves.  To-morrow  I  want  you  to  come 
to  luncheon  with  me.  We  shall  be  alone 
and  have  a  splendid  chance  to  talk  things 
over.     You  zvill  come,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  I  really  don't  see  how  I  can,"  replied 
Alice;  "I  don't  feel  like  going  any- 
where." 

"  Well,  my  dear,  that  is  just  the 
reason  that  you  must  come  to  me,"  and 
as  Lily  Naylor  pleaded,  no  living  person 
on  earth  could  have  resisted  her.  She 
had  made  up  her  mind  that  Alice  Russell 
must  like  her,  and  she  was  determined 
that  she  would.  She  felt  that  so  far  her 
efforts  were  most  successful,  and  if  she 
could  get  Alice  to  her  house  for  luncheon 
she  knew  that  would  settle  it.  Conse- 
quently when  Alice  promised  that  she 
would  come,  Lily  Naylor  took  her  in  her 
arms  and  kissed  her.  It  seemed  to  Alice 
Russell  that  it  was  almost  like  a  bene- 
diction. No  woman  had  ever  done  that 
to  her  before  in  all  her  life,  and  the 
great  generous  warmth  of  Lily  Naylor's 
magnetic  nature  seemed  to  penetrate  her 
own  starved  soul  and  fill  it  with  peace  and 

212 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

rest.  Now  it  was  that  she  so  fully  under- 
stood what  Ethel  Converse  meant.  Here 
was  a  woman  generous  enough  to  show 
her  what  true  friendship  was,  and  it  only 
served  to  make  her  appreciate  what  she 
had  denied  to  Ethel  Converse.  Alice  felt 
that  Lily  Naylor  had  come  into  her  life 
just  at  the  right  time  to  save  her.  Why 
could  she  not  have  been  as  generous  to 
another  woman  and  saved  her? 


213 


THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

^P  HEN  Alice  and  Lily  Naylor 
^!  T  x  T  !?^  had  finished  luncheon  they 
Si  i®    ^^'^"^  up-stairs  to  Mrs.  Nay- 

g^lii.  ^o^'s  den,  the  cosiest  little 
place  imaginable.  Seating  Alice  in  a 
deep,  luxurious  chair,  Lily  Naylor  said : 
"  My  dear,  I  have  the  loveliest  scheme 
for  the  subjugation  of  Mr.  Ned  Russell 
imaginable.  I  stayed  awake  nearly  all 
night  thinking  of  it.  Really,  it  is  splen- 
did and  an  inspiration  on  my  part.  I 
am  as  interested  in  it  as  can  be,  but  you 
must  promise  to  help  me  out." 

"  Of  course  you  know  that  I  will  do 
all  I  can." 

"  Very  well,  then ;  listen  to  this.  I 
have  the  dearest  uncle  that  ever  lived 
in  all  the  world.  He  is  forty-two,  but 
looks  much  younger,  and  has  always 
been  like  an  older  brother  to  me.  I  really 
love  him  as  I  would  a  brother.  He  has 
lived  abroad  the  greater  part  of  his  life, 
214 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

and  is  quite  an  artist.  Several  of  his 
pictures  liave  been  in  the  Paris  Salon, 
Uncle  Fred  and  I  are  devoted  to  each 
other,  and  he  would  do  anything  in  the 
world  for  me.  He  is  coming  to  America 
soon,  and  will  be  here  in  a  couple  of 
weeks  to  make  me  a  visit.  Now  what  I 
want  you  to  do  is  to  pretend  to  have  a 
desperate  flirtation  with  him,"  and  Lily 
Naylor  beamed  upon  Alice  as  if  this  was 
one  of  the  most  conventional  things. 

Alice  was  simply  aghast  and  said: 
"  Why,  how  utterly  absurd !  I  would 
never  dream  of  doing  such  a  thing." 

"  You  won't !  Well,  why  not,  for 
goodness'  sake?  " 

"  Why,  think  of  it  yourself.  Imagine 
me  doing  such  a  thing.  Ned  would  be 
so  disgusted  that  he  would  never  look 
at  me  again.  Besides,  my  own  self-respect 
would  keep  me  from  doing  anything  so 
common." 

"  Nonsense,"  answered  Lily  Naylor. 
"  Ned  wasn't  so  disgusted  with  such 
things  that  he  forgot  himself  with  me, 
was  he  ?    Don't  you  worry  so  much  about 

2IS 


WiTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

Ned.  He  will  come  out  all  right;  I  will 
vouch  for  that.  You  look  after  yourself; 
and  as  for  self-respect,  which  is  worse 
for  you,  to  lose  your  husband's  love  alto- 
gether and  have  him  leave  you  because 
of  your  self-respect,  or  to  try  to  win  his 
love  back  and  gain  his  respect  and  inci- 
dentally that  of  society?" 

"  Well,  I  don't  think  I  could  do  that. 
I  am  willing  to  do  a  good  deal  for  Ned, 
because  I  fully  realise  how  much  I  have 
been  to  blame,  and  I  now  know  that  if 
I  had  made  my  life  more  in  accordance 
with  his  that  we  would  not  have  been 
so  far  apart  to-day." 

"  That  is  all  very  true,"  replied  Mrs. 
Naylor. 

"  But,"  continued  Alice,  "  I  am  not 
willing  to  make  too  great  an  effort  to 
win  back  Ned's  love.  I  still  have  some 
pride  left,  and  I  don't  think  that  a  woman 
should  pursue  all  sorts  of  schemes  to 
try  to  get  her  husband  to  love  her,  even 
if  she  has  been  at  fault  somewhat." 

"  That  of  course  sounds  very  lofty 
and  noble,  but  really  it  won't  do  in  this 
216 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

case.  That  is  just  the  sort  of  arguing 
that  has  caused  Ned  Russell  to  change  in 
his  affection  for  you.  You  see,  my  dear, 
you  have  been  feeding  him  on  these  lofty 
ideals  so  long  that  he  is  sick  of  them. 
You  will  now  have  to  resort  to  something- 
more  human,  and  that  he  will  understand. 
Something  that  will  reach  a  man's  heart, 
and  that  I  can  tell  you  is  not  lofty  pride, 
or  cold  self-respect.  You  still  love  Ned, 
don't  you  ?  " 

''  You  know  that  I  do." 

"  May  I  ask  how  old  you  are?" 

"  Twenty-eight." 

"  And  Ned  is  thirty-four  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  this  is  a  nice  prospect  for  a 
woman  of  your  age  —  to  be  left  wander- 
ing about  the  world  alone  with  a  young 
son.  After  awhile  little  Dick  will  have 
to  go  to  school,  and  then  you  will  be 
left  quite  alone  to  go  back  East  and  have 
your  friends  gossip  about  you,  and  pity 
you  because  your  husband  will  not  live 
with  you.  Because,  remember  this,  my 
dear,  all  women  will  not  be  as  decent 
217 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

with  Ned  Russell  as  I  have  been.  As 
you  know,  he  is  a  very  attractive  man  to 
women,  and  he  is  only  human.  If  he 
is  not  happy  and  contented  with  his  own 
wife,  if  you  do  not  fill  his  life  with  peace 
and  contentment,  there  are  a  great  many 
other  women  in  this  wicked  world  who 
would  be  delighted  to  do  so.  Did  you 
ever  think  of  that?  " 

"  No,  because  I  always  trusted  Ned 
before." 

"  That  is  a  nice  selfish  speech.  Now 
why  should  you  trust  him?  You  take 
everything  that  makes  Hfe  worth  living 
away  from  a  man,  and  then  you  expect 
that  he  is  going  to  be  faithful  to  you. 
My  dear,  look  at  it  sensibly.  I  know  it 
is  cruel,  but  why  should  he  be?  And 
why  should  you  make  his  life  so  hard? 
You  are  a  very  religious  woman  and  I  do 
not  pretend  to  be;  but  I  should  feel  that 
I  were  accountable  if  my  husband  and 
the  father  of  my  children  went  wrong, 
especially  if  I  believed  as  you  do." 

"  I  never  thought  of  it  that  way 
before." 

218 


^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

"  Well,  it  is  time  to  think  of  it  now. 
I  wouldn't  ask  you  to  do  anything  that 
I  thought  would  hurt  you  in  any  way. 
But  there  is  just  one  thing,  if  Ned  is 
worth  anything  to  you,  you  might  just 
as  well  have  him  as  some  other  woman 
who  will  attract  him  when  he  realises 
that  I  do  not  care  for  him.  Now  is  your 
chance;   will  you  take  it?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Now,  that  is  sensible,  so  I  will  pro- 
ceed with  my  plan.  When  Uncle  Fred 
comes  I  will  tell  him  what  he  must  do. 
You  need  not  be  afraid  that  I  will  tell 
him  anything  that  you  will  not  want 
him  to  know,  and  of  course  I  will  not 
mention  the  affair  between  Ned  and 
myself.  That  is  the  charm  about  Uncle 
Fred.  You  don't  have  to  tell  him  details ; 
he  is  such  a  splendid  reader  of  character 
that  he  knows  things  without  being  told 
everything.  There  is  only  seven  years' 
difference  in  our  ages,  which  makes  us 
very  congenial.  You  can  trust  him  com- 
pletely, and  he  will  be  the  best  friend 
you  ever  had  in  your  life.  He  always 
219 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

knows  just  what  to  do  under  all  circum- 
stances. I  would  never  have  got  along 
in  the  world  as  well  as  I  have  if  it  had 
not  been  for  him.  He  has  taught  me  all 
I  know,  and  I  thank  him  for  it  more 
and  more  every  day." 

"  T  am  afraid  it  will  be  asking  a  good 
deal  of  him  to  enter  into  such  a  scheme 
as  this." 

"  Oh,  not  in  the  least;  he  will  love  it. 
He  is  the  kindest  hearted  man  in  all  the 
world,  and  he  will  be  only  too  happy 
to  help  us  along  in  our  little  schemes.  I 
really  think  he  will  enjoy  it  very  much, 
and  will  help  you  out  more  than  I  can." 

"  When  does  he  come  here?  " 

*'  I  expect  him  week  after  next,  so  you 
must  get  well  and  strong.  I  will  have 
you  at  dinner  to  meet  him  right  away, 
and  you  must  wear  your  prettiest  clothes. 
Of  course  you  w^ear  decollete  gowns  for 
dinner,  do  you  not?" 

"  No,  I  haven't  worn  a  low-necked 
gown  more  than  once  or  twice  since  I 
have  been  married." 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

"  Why  not?  "  asked  Lily  Naylor,  in 
surprise. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  I  used  to  wear 
them  before  I  was  married,  but  as  we 
did  not  go  about  much  where  the  women 
wore  them  I  got  out  of  the  habit.  I  don't 
beheve  I  could  begin  again  now." 

"  That  is  the  thing  that  I  can't  under- 
stand, that  just  as  soon  as  a  woman  gets 
married  she  seems  to  think  that  it  is  no 
longer  necessary  to  make  herself  attrac- 
tive to  her  husband,  when  as  a  matter  of 
fact  that  is  the  time  she  should  work  the 
hardest  to  keep  herself  just  as  charming, 
and  even  more  so,  than  she  did  before. 
Do  you  know  that  I  believe  that  lack  of 
attention  to  this  very  thing  is  the  primary 
cause  of  more  than  half  the  troubles  be- 
tween married  people?  Now  the  thing 
for  you  to  do  is  to  have  a  pretty  low- 
necked  gown  made  at  once,  and  have  it 
ready  for  our  campaign." 

"  I  have  a  thin  chiffon  waist  made  high 
in  the  neck.     Won't  that  do  as  well  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not.  I  don't  know  a  man 
that   admires    a  beautiful    woman   more 

221 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHIC  AG  OW: 

than  Ned.  Only  the  other  day  he  was 
raving  over  Mrs.  Seton's  beautiful  shoul- 
ders, and  as  Mrs.  Seton  is  only  too 
anxious  to  attract  Ned  among  her  train 
of  admirers,  I  guess  you  will  have  to 
wear  a  decollete  gown  even  if  you  are  a 
little  thin  now.  You  will  be  all  the  more 
attractive  to  Uncle  Fred,  as,  like  all  ar- 
tists, he  loves  thin,  spirituelle  women. 
He  was  always  disgusted  because  he 
could  make  nothing  but  a  Diana  or  a  Juno 
out  of  me  as  a  model.  You  are  just  the 
type  that  he  admires  most,  so  you  be 
sure  to  have  a  gown  made  at  once,  and 
don't  say  anything  to  Ned  about  it.  We 
will  surprise  him  the  night  of  the  dinner. 
Dear  old  Ned !  I  think  we  will  have 
many  a  surprise  for  him  before  we  finish 
this  little  comedy.  Then  I  suppose  when 
we  reach  a  successful  finish  you  will  both 
hate  me.  It  generally  turns  out  that  way 
when  a  woman  gives  a  husband  back  to 
his  wife." 

Ned  Russell  was  so  absorbed  in  some 
important  law  cases  that  he  had  on  hand 
about  this  time  that  he  saw  very  little  of 

222 


WtTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

his  wife.  He  was  conscious  that  she  was 
better  and  much  stronger  than  she  had 
been  a  few  weeks  previous,  and  she  ap- 
peared much  more  cheerful,  which  was 
very  gratifying  to  his  peace  of  mind  just 
at  this  busy  time.  He  did  not  know  of 
the  intimacy  that  had  sprung  up  between 
Lily  Naylor  and  his  wife;  they  diplo- 
matically concealed  it  as  much  as  possible 
for  the  good  of  future  results.  Alice 
mentioned  that  Mrs.  Naylor  had  been  to 
call  upon  her,  and  there  the  conversa- 
tion ceased,  much  to  Ned's  relief,  as  he 
expected  various  unpleasant  comments  to 
be  made. 

In  the  meantime  Frederick  Schuyler 
had  arrived  to  visit  ]\Irs.  Naylor,  and 
Alice  had  met  him  there  several  times, 
so  that  the  edge  of  embarrassment  was 
worn  off  when  the  Russells  received  in- 
vitations to  meet  him  at  dinner  at  the 
Naylors.  It  was  part  of  the  scheme  that 
Ned  should  not  know  that  his  wife  had 
met  Mr.  Schuyler  before  the  night  of  the 
dinner-party;  consequently  nothing  had 
been  said  about  him.  When  Alice  Rus- 
223 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

sell  came  down-stairs  dressed  for  the  din- 
ner, she  had  her  evening  cloak  wrapped 
tightly  around  her  so  that  Ned  had  no 
chance  to  see  her  gorgeous  raiment.  He 
had  been  very  busy  all  day  and  was  still 
preoccupied  with  his  law  cases,  so  that 
he  did  not  have  much  to  say  to  her  on  the 
way  to  the  Naylors. 

As  Alice  came  out  of  the  dressing- 
room  and  met  him,  preparatory  to  going 
down-stairs,  his  astonishment  was  too 
great  for  words.  He  could  scarcely  be- 
lieve that  this  beautiful  woman  was  his 
wife.  She  wore  an  exceedingly  becom- 
ing gown  of  white  chiffon  embroidered 
in  silver ;  the  bodice  was  cut  low,  and  her 
shoulders  were  as  beautiful  as  those  of 
a  young  girl.  A  wreath  of  green  leaves 
on  her  soft  brown  hair  made  her  look  like 
some  sylvan  goddess;  even  Mrs.  Naylor 
was  surprised  to  see  the  change  that  taste 
and  pretty  clothes  made  in  Alice  Russell. 
She  welcomed  her  with  more  than  ordi- 
nary cordiality,  as  she  was  much  pleased 
by  her  aristocratic  beauty.  The  excite- 
ment of  the  occasion  gave  Alice  a  faint 
224 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

colour,  and  her  eyes  were  more  brilliant 
and  expressive  than  Mrs.  Naylor  hatl 
ever  seen  them.  She  felt  that  she  had 
made  a  good  beginning  toward  the  con- 
quest of  a  husband. 

Ned  was  much  surprised  apparently, 
as  he  kept  looking  furtively  at  his  wife 
as  though  she  were  some  one  he  had 
never  seen  before.  Mrs.  Naylor  had 
asked  other  friends  to  meet  Mr.  Schuyler ; 
consequently  the  dinner  was  exceedingly 
elaborate  and  formal.  Alice  found  her- 
self placed  next  to  the  guest  of  honour, 
and  she  was  soon  engaged  in  a  most 
interesting  conversation.  As  Lily  Naylor 
said,  Frederick  Schuyler  had  the  faculty  of 
bringing  out  the  best  that  was  in  every- 
body, and  it  was  not  long  before  Alice 
yielded  to  this  charm  and  felt  as  though 
he  were  a  friend  that  she  had  known  all 
her  life.  She  had  a  sense  that  he  under- 
stood her  perfectly,  that  he  was  strong 
to  help  her,  and  that  he  was  sincere  and 
honest  in  his  friendship  for  her.  Nothing 
had  been  said  between  them  of  the  part 
they  were  to  play.  Lily  Naylor  had 
225 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

arranged  all  that,  and  they  simply  went 
on  with  the  comedy,  feeling  that  each 
understood  the  other  without  any  further 
explanation. 

As  Mrs.  Naylor  said  afterward,  she 
had  never  seen  Fred  Schuyler  as  bril- 
liant as  he  was  at  this  dinner.  He  told 
so  many  clever  stories,  and  was  alto- 
gether so  entertaining,  that  he  never  for 
a  moment  let  the  conversation  flag.  He 
knew  that  Alice  had  been  abroad  several 
times,  and  appealed  to  her  to  substantiate 
his  stories  of  the  different  foreign  places, 
which  brought  her  into  the  conversation 
more  than  any  one  else  at  the  table.  It 
was  quite  evident  that  Mr.  Schuyler  was 
very  much  attracted  to  her,  and,  although 
Ned  was  sitting  next  to  Lily  Naylor,  he 
was  not  as  interested  in  her  as  he  seemed 
to  be  in  what  he  called  his  "  wife's  com- 
ing-out party." 

Mrs.  Naylor  said  to  him :  "  Surely 
Mrs.  Russell  looks  anything  but  ill  to- 
night. I  never  saw  her  look  so  pretty 
before.  Ned,  your  wife  is  a  very  beau- 
tiful woman.  Evidently  Uncle  Fred 
226 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

thinks  so  too;  you  had  better  look  out. 
Artists  are  dangerous  men  around  women 
as  beautiful  as  your  wife  is  to-night." 

Ned  replied,  smilingly,  "  I  guess  there 
is  no  danger  there;  I  think  Mrs.  Russell 
is  perfectly  safe." 

"  Don't  you  be  too  sure  of  that.  You 
men  are  so  conceited  that  you  think  your 
wives  are  proof  against  all  attention  and 
flattery.  Mrs.  Russell  may  be  just  as 
human  as  the  rest  of  us  women,  and  a 
little  wholesome  and  well-timed  attention 
may  be  just  what  she  needs  to  make  her 
come  out  of  her  matrimonial  shell." 

This  was  a  speech  that  Lily  Naylor 
would  never  have  made  had  she  not  been 
anxious  to  direct  Ned's  attention  toward 
his  wife.  She  saw  that  he  kept  looking 
at  her.  but  it  was  in  an  amused  sort  of 
way,  as  though  he  were  watching  a  harm- 
less little  child  innocently  playing.  It 
was  evident  that  she  amused  him  for  the 
time  being. 


227 


THE  RUS SELLS  LN  CHICAGOh 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

I  HIS  was  the  beginning  of 
^!  rx^  1^  many  festivities  given  by 
Pi  i-  j^  Mrs.  Naylor  for  her  guest, 
iii^^^^  ^"*^  "^^^  Russells  always  were 
present.  It  seemed  rather  odd  to  Ned 
that  Ahce  was  now  the  one  who  wanted 
to  go  everywhere;  she  was  always  ready 
to  accept  any  invitation  which  they  re- 
ceived; she  blossomed  out  in  new  and 
exceedingly  stylish  clothes,  and  was  much 
happier  and  contented  than  she  had  been 
since  coming  to  Chicago. 

Instead  of  going  to  the  Thomas  con- 
certs Friday  afternoons  with  little  Dick 
or  some  woman  friend,  she  now  pre- 
ferred going  Saturday  nights,  which  was 
the  time  society  turned  out  in  glittering 
force  to  hear  the  music. 

She  was  ready  and  most  willing  now 

to   receive  the  generous   friendship   that 

had  been  offered  to  her,  and  as  she  began 

to  see  how  kind  these  friends  of  Ned's 

228 


^.THE  R  US  SELLS  LV 


really  were,  she  was  exceedingly  ashamed 
of  herself  for  treating  them  as  she  had 
in  the  past.  The  lessons  of  life  that  had 
cost  her  so  much  to  learn  were  already 
doing  her  a  great  deal  of  good. 

Alice  Riissell  had  heard  a  great  deal 
about  a  literary  club  called  the  Little 
Room.  It  was  such  a  peculiar  name 
that  it  attracted  her  attention  at  once,  and 
when  she  found  out  that  it  was  composed 
of  authors,  artists,  and  musicians,  she  was 
more  anxious  than  ever  to  know  some- 
thing about  it. 

The  Little  Room  door  was  hospita- 
bly left  open  every  Friday  afternoon  so 
that  the  members  might  wander  in,  if 
they  were  so  inclined,  for  a  cup  of  tea 
and  a  little  chat  together.  Whenever 
any  one  of  literary  or  artistic  prominence 
came  to  town,  they  always  found  the  most 
cordial  welcome  to  the  Little  Room, 
which  ever  after  was  home  to  them.  The 
members  of  this  charming  club,  recognis- 
ing Frederick  Schuyler  as  one  of  Amer- 
ica's foremost  artists,  invited  him  to  meet 
the  occupants  of  the  Little  Room,  and 
229 


W:THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

also  extended  its  hospitality  to  his  friends ; 
in  consequence  Lily  Naylor  and  Alice 
Russell  went  with  him.  Possibly  in  all 
Chicago  there  was  no  more  loyal  woman 
to  the  city  of  her  birth  than  Lily  Naylor; 
she  loved  it,  dirt  and  all,  and  was  so  in- 
tensely loyal  that  Alice  Russell  always 
laughed  to  herself  when  Mrs.  Naylor 
spoke  of  the  literary  atmosphere  of  Chi- 
cago. That,  to  a  woman  from  Boston, 
where  the  very  air  was  filled  with  liter- 
ature, was  more  or  less  of  a  joke.  She 
had  laughed  a  good  deal  with  Mrs.  Naylor 
over  Chicago  as  a  "  literary  centre,"  but 
found,  much  to  her  surprise,  that  even 
she  was  not  sure  that  in  time,  and  that 
not  so  far  off,  Chicago  might  be  a  great 
literary  centre.  Of  course  this  to  her 
was  impossible,  but  it  all  added  to  her 
desire  to  know  more  about  the  situation 
here.  She  had  attended  some  of  the 
meetings  of  the  Authors'  Club  in  Boston, 
where  she  had  been  asked  to  serve  tea 
at  the  house  of  a  friend  who  had  the 
Authors'  as  guests,  so  she  felt  in  a  posi- 
tion to  draw  contrasts. 
230 


W'.THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

On  the  afternoon  appointed  for  the 
reception,  AHce,  accompanied  by  Mrs. 
Naylor  and  Mr.  Schuyler,  knocked  on 
the  door  of  the  Little  Room,  and  was 
welcomed  into  one  of  the  most  artistic 
and  charming  studios  imaginable.  The 
walls  were  hung  with  beautiful  old  tapes- 
tries, and  rare  things  collected  in  Spain 
and  from  all  over  the  world  were  about 
the  room.  Soft,  mellow  lights  from 
shaded  candles  and  old  lanterns  gave 
the  desired  artistic  effect  to  everything. 
Exquisite  old  paintings  told  of  the  artist's 
appreciation  of  his  art,  and  in  fact  every- 
thing in  the  studio  gave  evidence  of  the 
most  refined  taste  and  genuine  love  of 
the  beautiful.  Alice  Russell  was  amazed; 
she  did  not  dream  that  such  a  studio  ex- 
isted outside  of  New  York  or  Boston. 
She  found  that  afternoon  there  were  sev- 
eral other  studios  in  the  same  building, 
possibly  not  quite  so  beautiful  and  elab- 
orate, but  equally  delightful  and  fasci- 
nating. The  Little  Room,  as  she  was 
told,  was  named  for  a  story  by  one  of  the 
members  of  the  club.  They  had  no  regu- 
231 


WiTHE  R  US  SELLS  LV  CHICAGO-^ 

lar  place  of  meeting,  and  went  wherever 
some  kind  friend  offered  the  hospitaHty 
of  rooms  for  a  season.  The  Little 
Room  appeared  and  disappeared;  it 
was  never  in  the  same  place  twice.  Alice 
Russell  was  delighted  with  the  whole  at- 
mosphere of  the  place.  To  be  sure  it 
was  not  quite  as  unconventional  as  she 
thought  a  club  of  the  kind  should  be;  it 
seemed  from  the  subdued  voices  and 
hushed  conversation  as  though  one  were 
in  the  "  holy  of  holies,"  but  as  some  of 
the  members  joked  about  this  same  feel- 
ing of  subduedness  themselves,  she  soon 
saw  that  they  did  not  take  themselves 
quite  so  seriously  as  one  would  at  first 
suppose. 

As  Frederick  Schuyler  said,  "  The 
honest  every-day  humanity  of  these  West- 
ern authors  is  a  positive  delight.  There 
are  no  frills  or  nonsense,  and  the  youth 
and  good  fellowship  among  them  all  is 
refreshing." 

Alice  Russell  was  greatly  interested, 
and  wanted  to  know  all  about  everybody 
and  everything.  Mrs.  Naylor,  who  was 
232 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHIC  AG  O'-^ 

a  great  favourite  both  in  the  social  and 
hterary  set,  knew  nearly  all  of  the  mem- 
bers and  pointed  the  more  prominent 
ones  out  for  the  benefit  of  Alice's  curi- 
osity. They  were  seated  in  a  corner  of 
the  room,  and  to  Alice  it  was  a  good  deal 
like  going  to  an  exhibition  of  Mrs, 
Jarley's  wax-works.  She  was  most  inter- 
ested in  the  members,  and  wanted  to  know 
them  all.  Turning  to  Lily  Na3dor,  she 
said :  "  I  wish  I  could  do  something 
worth  while  so  that  I  could  belong  to  a 
club  of  this  kind." 

"  Well,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,"  re- 
plied Lily  Naylor,  "  I  think  that  I  have 
done  something  that  should  entitle  me 
to  belong  to  any  author's  club,  because  I 
have  read  their  books,  which  I  know  in 
some  instances  is  much  harder  than  writ- 
ing them." 

The  thing  that  pleased  Frederick 
Schuyler  more  than  anything  else  about 
the  Little  Room  was  the  feeling  of  youth, 
comradeship,  and  sincere  friendship. 
The  members  were  all  interested  in  each 
other  and  had  the  rare  good  sense  not 
233 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  hV  CHICAGO^ 

to  take  themselves  at  all  seriously.  Here 
were  some  of  the  best  names  in  the  liter- 
ature of  the  day,  but  they  were  unspoiled 
from  flattery  and  adulation,  wholesome 
and  refreshing  as  the  breezes  that  blow 
over  the  prairies. 

As  Frederick  Schuyler  said,  W.  D. 
Howells  had  faith  in  the  literature  of 
the  West,  and  from  what  he  saw  of  the 
members  of  the  Little  Room,  their  young 
vigorous  freshness  and  earnestness  of 
purpose,  it  seemed  to  him  it  was  but 
natural  that  the  strength  and  force  of 
life,  with  broadness  of  view,  must  of 
necessity  come  from  these  authors  and 
artists. 

In  speaking  of  the  Little  Room, 
Alice  Russell  said :  "  The  difference  be- 
tween the  Boston  Authors'  Club  and  the 
Chicago  one  was,  the  Boston  club,  like 
the  buildings  of  that  city,  was  covered 
with  the  ivy  of  the  past.  Its  memory  was 
kept  green  by  those  who  had  been,  as 
much  as  by  those  who  were  now.  It 
seemed  to  be  an  old  and  sacred  institu- 
tion that  required  a  great  effort  for  its 
234 


mTHE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

preservation ;  the  ivy  protected  it  and 
kept  it  fresh,  but  with  this  Little  Room 
in  the  West,  the  windows  were  all  open 
for  the  sunshine  and  wind  to  stream  in. 
They  had  just  started  their  ivy  vine  of 
immortality,  which  flourished  enough  to 
hide  the  newness  of  their  home  and  give 
promise  of  a  long  and  glorious  life." 

To  Frederick  Schuyler,  who  had  been 
entertained  all  over  the  country,  this 
Little  Room  Club  was  the  most  unique 
thing  of  its  kind  in  America.  He  appre- 
ciated it  and  enjoyed  it  more  than  any 
similar  club  that  he  had  seen. 

When  he  heard  of  their  Twelfth  Night 
revels  he  was  more  charmed  than  ever 
with  it.  The  sweet  simplicity  and  fool- 
ishness of  it  all  were  most  attractive  to 
him.  When  he  was  told  that  men  and 
women  whose  names  were  known  all  over 
the  world  entered  heartily  into  the  sport 
and  revels  of  Twelfth  Night  like  children, 
and  enjoyed  practical  jokes  on  themselves 
as  only  broad,  sensible  people  can,  it 
seemed  most  delightful.  Men  like  Henry 
Fuller,  Hamlin  Garland,  Roswell  Field, 
235 


^TIIE  RUSSELL S  hN  CHICAGO-^ 

George  Ade,  Peter  F.  Dunne,  Will 
Payne,  I.  K.  Friedman,  Hobart  Chat- 
field-Taylor,  Franklin  Head,  Slason 
Thompson,  Robert  Herrick;  women  like 
Mary  Hartwell  Catherwood,  Elia  Peattie, 
Harriet  Monroe,  Madeline  Yale  Wynne 
(for  whose  story  the  Little  Room 
was  named)  ;  musicians  like  Fannie 
Bloomfield  Zeisler,  and  other  pianists  of 
not  quite  so  much  prominence,  but  high 
in  their  profession;  artists  like  Mr. 
Clarkson,  Lorado  Taft,  the  sculptor,  and 
Bessie  Potter  Vonnoh;  and  singers,  too, 
whose  names  are  known  the  world  over. 
All  these  and  many  more  lesser  lights  that 
still  give  brilliancy  enough  to  shine  by 
themselves  and  cast  a  radiance  on  the 
world,  —  all  these  splendid  people,  with 
many  newspaper  men  and  women,  dra- 
matic critics,  art  critics,  the  best  of  their 
profession,  added  to  the  general  hilarity 
and  mirth  of  the  occasion.  It  certainly 
was  a  unique  experience  to  dance  to  a 
waltz  played  by  Fannie  Bloomfield  Zeisler, 
to  hear  songs  from  men  and  women  whose 
names  alone  filled  concert  halls,  and  to 
236 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO-^ 

listen  to  parodies  and  verse  by  some  of 
the  leading  writers  of  America,  and  to  see 
caricatures  drawn  by  such  men  as  John 
McCutcheon  and  other  leading  caricatur- 
ists of  the  country ;  it  was  indeed  a  treat 
that  did  not  often  happen  in  a  lifetime, 
and  all  this  in  the  wild  and  woolly  West 
put  an  entirely  new  phase  on  the  literary 
atmosphere  of  Chicago  to  Alice  Russell. 
She  felt  that  she  had  done  the  greatest 
injustice  to  a  city  that  she  was  beginning 
to  know"  and  understand. 

She  had  always  heard  about  the  Stock 
Yards  as  the  one  place  of  interest  that 
Chicago  pointed  out  to  the  stranger  within 
her  gates ;  she  soon  found  that  this  was 
a  joke  that  was  appreciated  nowhere  but 
in  the  East,  as  it  w^as  a  matter  of  fact  that 
no  one  ever  seemed  to  have  heard  of  the 
Stock  Yards  in  Chicago,  and  it  was  but 
a  cheap  imitation  of  a  jest  even  at  best. 

Instead  of  being  asked  to  see  the  Stock 
Yards,  Frederick  Schuyler  was  invited  to 
attend  a  reception  given  at  the  Chicago 
Universit}'.  He  was  requested  to  deliver 
a  lecture  to  the  students  first,  which  rather 
237 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

bored  him,  but  he  at  last  consented  to 
do  so,  as  it  gave  him  a  splendid  chance 
to  study  the  University  and  the  conditions 
surrounding  coeducation,  a  question  in 
which  he  was  vitally  interested,  as  it  was 
such  a  peculiar  American  idea.  He  had 
heard  of  Mr.  Rockefeller's  vast  donations 
to  the  University.  He  had  also  heard  of 
Doctor  Harper  and  his  tireless  and  cease- 
less efforts  to  raise  money  for  the  same 
purpose.  He  was  much  amused  by  a 
characteristic  story  told  to  him  about 
Eugene  Field  and  Doctor  Harper,  who 
happened  to  be  at  dinner  together. 

As  soon  as  Engene  Field  saw  Doctor 
Harper  among  the  guests,  he  went  to  a 
friend,  holding  a  silver  quarter  in  his 
hand;  taking  the  friend  aside,  Mr.  Field 
said :  "  Will  you  please  take  care  of  this 
quarter  for  me?  It  is  all  I  have  in  the 
world;  I  see  Harper  is  here,  and  I  want 
to  keep  that  money  to  pay  my  way  out 
home  to-night." 

After  going  about  the  college  grounds, 
and  hearing  of  the  privileges  extended 
to  both  the  men  and  women  students, 
238 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

Frederick  Schuyler  concluded  that  co- 
education may  be  all  right  for  those  who 
liked  it,  but  it  reminded  him  of  a  toast 
he  once  heard  at  a  meeting  against  equal 
suffrage:  "To  the  women  who  were 
once  oui  superiors,  but  are  now  our 
equals." 


239 


W^THE  R  US  SELLS  LN  CHICAGO^ 


CHAPTER   XV. 

'^  T  had  been  a  long  wearisome 
1^  day  at  the  University,  and 
j^  Alice  longed  to  stay  at  home 
^  that  evening  for  dinner,  but 
as  Mr.  Schuyler  was  leaving  Chicago  in  a 
few  days  to  return  to  Paris,  Mrs.  Naylor 
and  her  friends  were  doing  all  things  pos- 
sible to  have  his  visit  end  in  a  blaze  of 
glory.  For  this  evening  they  had  ar- 
ranged a  box  party  at  the  Illinois  Theatre 
to  see  Irving,  with  a  supper  after  at 
Rector's. 

As  Rector's  was  the  one  particular  place 
that  Alice  Russell  had  scorned  as  "  too 
Bohemian  for  any  respectable  person  to 
go,"  Ned  was  rather  amazed  at  her  ac- 
cepting the  invitation.  He  could  not  re- 
sist the  temptation  to  say  to  her  as  they 
drove  to  the  theatre,  "  The  last  few 
months  seem  to  have  wrought  a  very 
wonderful  change  in  you.  I  can  remem- 
240 


WiTHE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

her  the  time  when  you  refused  absohitely 
to  go  with  me  to  Rector's." 

"  My  dear  Ned,  I  was  a  dreadful  idiot 
in  those  stupid  days.  Don't  remind  me 
of  them,  please.  I  am  as  ashamed  of  my- 
self now  as  you  were  of  me  then." 

*'  I  don't  know^  that  I  was  ashamed  of 
you ;  if  the  truth  were  known,  I  think  I 
would  much  rather  have  you  as  you  were 
then,  than  as  you  are  now,  for  I  must 
confess,  Alice,  that  lately  you  seem  to 
have  changed  entirely,  or  lost  your  head. 
I'll  be  hanged  if  I  know  w-hat  is  the 
matter  with  you." 

If  Ned  Russell  had  not  been  feeling 
so  utterly  wretched  and  miserable  as  he 
looked  out  of  the  cab  window  into  the 
rainy  night,  he  w^ould  have  seen  the  most 
delighted  smile  on  the  face  of  his  wife. 
She  realised  that  Lily  Naylor's  scheme 
had  been  most  successful,  and  that  Ned 
was  miserably  unhappy,  and  just  a  little 
jealous  of  Frederick  Schuyler.  She  had 
seen  him  watch  her  more  and  more  every 
day,  and  she  knew  that  her  assumed  indif- 
ference to  him  made  him  think  that  she 
241 


mTHE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

had  ceased  to  care  for  him,  and  that  possi- 
bly she  cared  for  some  one  else  who  was 
more  devoted  to  her  than  he  had  been. 
He  saw  Alice  come  out,  develop,  and 
blossom  like  the  green  bay-tree.  She  was 
a  revelation  to  him,  and  the  strangest  of 
it  all  was,  that  she  seemed  to  have  com- 
pletely fascinated  Lily  Naylor.  The  two 
women  were  inseparable ;  the  two  women 
that  he  cared  for  most  in  the  world,  and 
he  was  left  out  of  their  friendship  entirely. 
It  hurt  him,  and  irritated  him  more  than 
he  liked  to  admit.  He  loved  his  wife, 
and  would  like  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of 
her  society  once  in  awhile  himself,  es- 
pecially since  this  new  change  had  come 
over  her.  She  was  most  attractive,  and 
no  one  realised  it  more  than  Ned,  but 
unfortunately  Alice  seemed  to  have  no 
time  for  him;  she  had  constant  engage- 
ments to  which  she  dragged  him,  and 
rather  than  be  left  at  home  alone  he  went 
along  to  watch  her  success.  Even  Lily 
Naylor's  charm  palled  upon  him.  For 
some  unknown  reason  which  he  could  not 
explain  she  did  not  seem  nearly  as  sym- 
242 


^THE  RC/S SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

pathetic  as  she  had  been,  and  he  found 
himself  unconsciously  pitying  poor  Jack 
Naylor  for  having  to  lead  such  a  frivo- 
lous society  life. 

The  fact  was  that  he  knew  Lily  Naylor 
had  something  to  do  with  the  change  in 
his  wife :  he  knew  that  she  was  all  of  the 
time  planning  things  for  her,  and,  man- 
like, he  resented  it,  just  as  Lily  Naylor 
knew  he  would. 

During  the  play,  Alice  whispered  to 
Mrs.  Naylor  what  Ned  had  said  in  the 
cab,  and  together  they  had  a  good  laugh 
over  it. 

Mrs.  Naylor  said :  "  My  dear,  I  think 
that  Ned  is  fast  approaching  the  point 
where  we  want  him ;  we  must  bring  this 
thing  to  a  climax  before  Uncle  Fred 
leaves  town,  so  you  try  to  make  him  just 
as  jealous  and  uncomfortable  as  you  can. 
Pretend  to  have  a  glorious  time  at  Rec- 
tor's. Ned  told  me  he  knew  you  wouldn't 
go  there,  as  you  did  not  approve  of 
the  place.  Jack  has  asked  some  of  his 
actor  friends  for  supper :  they  are  charm- 
ing, delightful  fellows,  belonging  to  splen- 
243 


^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

did  families  and  that  sort  of  thing;  just 
you  devote  yourself  to  them  at  supper,  and 
I  think  that  Ned  will  have  the  shock  of  his 
life;  it  will  be  such  fun  to  watch  him. 
Poor  old  Ned!  he  is  as  cross  as  a  bear 
with  me;  I  think  he  would  like  to  bite 
me  instead  of  kiss  me  these  days." 

The  supper  at  Rector's  was  a  most  de- 
lightful affair.  Alice  had  always  heard 
that  this  was  the  most  Bohemian  place  in 
all  Chicago,  and  as  her  ideas  of  Bohemia 
were  those  that  even  a  Bohemian  would 
not  recognise,  she  was  rather  surprised 
at  this  little  underground  restaurant  where 
everything  was  so  pretty,  so  exquisitely 
clean  and  attractive.  It  was  soon  packed 
and  overflowing  with  people  from  the 
theatres,  the  women  all  beautifully  dressed 
and  the  men  in  evening  clothes,  making 
a  very  attractive  picture  of  "  high  life." 
Possibly  in  all  America  there  is  no  place 
like  Rector's  in  Chicago,  which  is  as  dif- 
ferent from  Rector's  in  New  York  as  a 
paper  poppy  is  unlike  a  glowing  natural 
one.  In  Chicago,  society  hobnobs  with  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  men,  newspaper 
244 


^THE  RUS SELLS  LV  CHICAGO^ 

men  and  women,  actors  both  male,  female, 
and  neuter,  artists  good  and  bad,  horse 
jockeys,  baseball  players,  singers,  and 
musicians  known  the  world  over ;  and 
occasionally  one  may  see  a  minister  and 
his  sedate  party  at  a  table  eating  oyster 
stew  and  drinking  coffee.  The  utmost 
good  fellowship  and  order  w^as  always 
visible.  There  happily  is  no  music  to  spoil 
it  all,  and  there  are  few  places  of  its  kind 
anyw'here. 

During  the  supper  the  conversation 
turned  on  the  subject  of  Bohemianism. 
As  Jack  Naylor  said :  "  There  is  no  more 
abused  word  in  the  English  language,  as 
the  popular  idea  of  Bohemia  is  as  differ- 
ent from  the  real  thing  as  anything  that 
could  be  imagined." 

"  Well,  I  should  think  so,"  replied  Lily 
Naylor.  "  A  most  amusing  thing  hap- 
pened to  me  a  short  time  ago.  Jack  had 
a  very  dear  friend  who  comes  out  to  our 
place  quite  a  good  deal ;  he  is  enormously 
clever,  and  if  he  were  not  such  a  rich  man 
w'ould  be  a  stunning  writer.  He  lived 
abroad  for  quite  awhile  before  he  was 
245 


^THE  RUS  SELLS  LN  CHIC  AGO  W^ 

married,  but  since  he  has  settled  into 
nothing  much  better  than  the  average 
society  man  who  goes  out  to  society  din- 
ners about  three  times  a  week.  The  other 
day  his  wife  called  upon  me.  She  is  a 
most  charming  woman  of  the  most  con- 
ventional sort,  and  this  is  what  she  said : 
*  My  dear  Mrs.  Naylor,  I  came  near  call- 
ing upon  you  last  week  to  help  me  out.  It 
was  my  husband's  birthday,  and  I  wanted 
to  give  him  a  real  good  time.  He  always 
has  such  a  good  time  at  your  house,  as 
he  says  you  entertain  in  such  a  delightfully 
Bohemian  way,  and  he  meets  so  many 
charming  people  here  who  like  that  sort 
of  thing,  that  I  thought  I  would  ask 
you  to  help  me  out  with  my  husband's 
party.'  The  way  she  said  all  this  made 
me  a  little  uneasy,  so  I  said  to  her,  *  Just 
what  did  you  mean,  Mrs.  Williams,  by 
giving  your  husband  a  good  time  ?  ' 

"  '  Well,'  she  replied,  '  I  mean  a  Bo- 
hemian time  such  as  you  have;  for  in- 
stance, I  thought  I  would  get  a  keg  of 
beer,  and  a  whole  lot  of  pipes  and  some 
cheese  and  crackers,  then  ask  a  lot  of 
246 


^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

newspaper  men  and  actors,  and  let  them 
have  a  real  jolly  time  until  morning; 
of  course  I  don't  know  any  newspaper 
men  or  actors,  but  I  thought  maybe  you 
would  ask  them  for  me.' 

"  Now  I  want  to  know  if  you  ever 
heard  anything  to  equal  that  description 
of  Bohemia?  I  was  dazed  for  a  minute, 
then  I  managed  to  say,  '  My  dear  woman, 
if  that  is  your  idea  of  a  good  time,  you 
could  not  get  a  newspaper  man  or  an 
actor  near  your  house.  I  never  in  all 
my  life  had  such  a  thing  as  a  keg  of 
beer  in  my  house;  and  as  for  pipes,  no 
one  dares  to  smoke  such  a  thing  outside 
of  the  smoking-room.'  " 

The  supper  at  Rector's  was  a  great  suc- 
cess ;  at  least  it  was  as  far  as  Alice 
Russell  was  concerned.  She  enjoyed 
every  moment  of  it,  and  it  was  very  amus- 
ing to  Lily  Naylor  to  see  how  easy  it  now 
was  for  Alice  to  be  attractive  and  charm- 
ing to  strangers.  Mr.  Savage,  one  of 
the  most  popular  and  leading  actors  on 
the  American  stage,  sat  next  to  her  at 
supper,  and  it  was  almost  impossible  for 
247 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  IN  CHICAGO^ 

Frederick  Schuyler,  or  any  one  else,  to 
say  a  word  to  her,  as  Mr.  Savage  was  so 
absorbed  in  her  ideas  of  the  Elizabethan 
drama,  a  subject  upon  which  they  were 
both  exceedingly  well  informed.  It  was 
very  late  when  the  supper-party  broke  up, 
and  Alice  confided  to  Jack  Naylor  that 
she  had  never  had  a  better  time  in  her  life. 

He  replied,  "  We'll  make  the  most 
loyal  kind  of  a  Chicago  woman  of  you 
yet." 

Ned  Russell,  strange  to  say,  did  not 
have  quite  such  a  pleasant  time.  He 
thought  that  Mr.  Savage  was  an  insuf- 
ferable bore,  and  could  not  see  what  Alice 
found  in  him  to  be  so  interesting,  and 
besides.  Rector's  was  a  hot,  stuffy  place 
with  no  ventilation,  and  was  rather  sur- 
prised that  a  woman  of  her  tastes  could 
be  so  pleased  with  it. 

All  of  which  delighted  Alice  beyond 
words. 

The  next  evening  they  had  been  invited 

to  a  small  dinner-party  at  the  Naylors'; 

just  a  family  affair,  as  Mr.  Schuyler  was 

so  soon  going  away.    When  Ned  left  the 

248 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

house  that  morning,  he  said  to  Ahce,  "  I 
wish  you  would  send  word  to  the  Naylors 
that  I  will  not  be  there  to-night.  I  am 
too  busy  to  come  home  and  dress  and 
go  out  for  dinner.  I'm  getting  sick  to 
death  of  this  society  business  out  every 
night.  I  think  I  will  stay  at  home  and 
enjoy  myself  for  a  change.  I  should  think 
you  would  get  tired  of  it.  too." 

"  On  the  contrary,  I  enjoy  it  very 
much  indeed.  I  will  telephone  the  Nay- 
lors then  that  you  will  not  be  there." 

"  I  suppose  you  will  go  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  Mr.  Schuyler  is  leaving  so 
soon  now,  I  would  not  disappoint  Lily 
for  the  world." 

As  Ned  slammed  the  hall  door  Alice 

thought   she  heard   him   say,    "  D ," 

but  she  was  not  sure. 

She  telephoned  Mrs.  Naylor  what  Ned 
had  said,  so  they  both  concluded  that  he 
was  getting  pretty  desperate  over  their 
little  comedy.  About  five  o'clock  that 
afternoon  Ned  Russell  received  a  very 
pleading  message  from  IMrs.  Naylor  over 
the  telephone,  begging  him  to  reconsider 
249 


W^THE  RUSSELL S  LN  CHICAGO^ 

his  message  of  the  morning  and  not  to 
spoil  her  dinner-party.  Of  course  the  out- 
come was  that  he  promised  to  come,  but 
the  consent  was  not  given  very  graciously. 
In  fact  Ned  did  not  hesitate  to  show  his 
irritation  at  things  in  general  to  Lily 
Naylor,  and  reading  between  the  lines  she 
knew  perfectly  well  what  was  the  matter, 
so  she  hastened  over  to  see  Alice  to  make 
more  plans  for  Ned's  entertainment  that 
evening. 

"  Now,  my  dear,"  she  said,  "  I  have 
thought  out  a  nice  little  plan  that  I  think 
will  settle  matters.  When  we  finish 
dinner  this  evening  I  will  say  to  you, 
*  Let  us  go  into  the  library,  my  dear,  and 
smoke  our  cigarettes  there  while  the  men 
are  smoking  here.'  " 

"  Goodness  gracious,  you  don't  really 
mean  it,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not,  but  we've  got  to  do 
something  desperate  now.  We've  tried 
everything  else  on  Ned,  and  I  guess  that 
this  will  everlastingly  settle  him." 

"  Yes,  and  settle  me  too.  I  don't  want 
to  even  let  him  think  that  I  would  do 
250 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO'^ 

such  a  thing.  Poor  fellow,  he  has  been 
so  utterly  wretched  over  this  thing  lately, 
that  I  am  getting  fearfully  ashamed  of 
myself.  Really,  I  don't  think  I  can  keep 
this  farce  up  much  longer;  I  am  simply 
crazy  to  put  my  arms  around  his  neck 
and  confess  the  whole  truth," 

"  And  spoil  all  my  work.  Well,  I  guess 
you  won't  until  after  this  evening.  You 
help  me  carry  out  this  little  scheme  to- 
night, and  then  if  this  will  bring  matters 
to  a  crisis  between  you  and  dear  old  Ned, 
as  I  think  it  will,  you  can  confess  all  you 
please,  and  my  blessing  be  on  you  both." 

At  heart  Alice  Russell  was  one  of  the 
gentlest  of  God's  creatures,  and  it  hurt 
her  more  and  more  each  day  as  she  saw 
Ned's  suffering.  She  really  was  anxious 
to  end  it,  and  longed  for  the  time  to  come 
when  she  could  honestly  tell  him  the  whole 
truth.  He  looked  more  careworn  and 
tired  than  she  had  ever  seen  him,  and 
although  she  realised  that  it  had  been  a 
splendid  experience  for  each  of  them,  still 
she  was  tired  of  it  all  and  wanted  again 
to  have  matters  between  them  settled  on 
251 


^THE  R  US  SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

a  better  foundation  than  they  had  ever 
been  before.  She  feU  that  at  last  she  had 
found  her  own  true  self,  and  she  wanted 
Ned  to  know  her  as  she  really  was.  She 
saw  and  appreciated  the  wholesome  dif- 
ference between  life  in  the  East,  and  as 
it  was  here  in  the  West.  She  was  sin- 
cerely attached  to  Chicago  now;  she  saw 
the  kindness  and  generous  friendship  of 
the  people.  Thanks  to  the  teachings  of 
Ethel  Converse,  she  had  learned  to  give 
expression  to  the  sympathy  that  she  had 
for  so  long  kept  locked  up  in  her  heart. 
The  Alice  Russell  of  the  present  time  was 
an  entirely  dififerent  creature  from  the 
cold,  unresponsive  woman  that  antago- 
nised all  who  came  near  to  do  her  kind- 
ness. Now  every  one  loved  her,  and,  al- 
though wondering  at  the  change  in  her, 
they  accepted  her  for  what  she  now 
seemed,  and  forgot  the  past. 

Ned  Russell  came  home  from  the  of- 
fice, tired  and  unhappy,  to  dress  for  the 
dinner  at  the  Naylors'.  When  Alice  saw 
him,  it  was  hard  for  her  to  resist  the  temp- 
tation to  send  word  to  the  Naylors  that 
252 


^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

he  was  ill,  and  remain  at  home  with  him, 
but  she  thought  she  would  carry  out  her 
promise  to  Lily  Naylor  this  time. 

Ned  was  very  quiet  throughout  the 
dinner,  and  looked  so  ill  that  even  Lily 
Naylor  noticed  it.  The  dinner  did  not 
prove  a  particularly  gay  affair,  and  as 
die  cigars  were  brought  on  Mrs.  Naylor 
arose  and  said :  "  Let  us  go  into  the 
library,  Alice,  and  smoke  our  cigarettes 
there  while  the  men  smoke  and  talk  here." 

Both  Jack  Naylor  and  Frederick 
Schuyler  had  been  prepared  for  this,  the 
most  startling  and  last  card  that  was  to 
be  played  in  the  comedy,  and,  conse- 
quently, were  not  quite  so  shocked  as 
Ned  Russell,  when  this  astounding  invi- 
tation was  proposed. 

He  gave  Alice  one  look  of  amazement 
and  surprise  as  she  rose  from  the  table 
with  Lily  Naylor  and  left  the  room.  He 
was  too  dazed  to  utter  a  word. 

When  the  men  were  left  alone,  Fred- 
erick Schuyler  said :  "  Now  I  think 
that  is  a  very  sensible  idea  for  women  to 


»S3 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

go  off  by  themselves  and  enjoy  a  quiet 
little  smoke  if  they  like  it," 

"  I  think  it  perfectly  disgusting," 
blurted  Ned  Russell. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  replied  Jack 
Naylor,  "  if  Lily  wants  to  smoke  a  cigar- 
ette in  her  own  house,  I  really  do  not  see 
why  she  should  not  do  it.  I  don't  think 
I  should  like  to  see  her  do  so  in  public,  but 
quietly  I  think  it  is  all  right.  Don't  you, 
Fred?" 

In  the  meantime  Lily  Naylor  and  Alice 
were  having  a  great  deal  of  amusement 
in  the  library,  as  neither  of  them  had  ever 
lighted  a  cigarette  in  her  life,  and  did  not 
dare  to  try.  What  to  do  they  did  not 
know,  as  they  had  to  give  the  appearance 
of  smoking,  any  way.  Calling  Jack 
Naylor  into  the  room  for  a  second,  Lily 
begged  him  to  light  the  cigarettes  for 
them  and  to  smoke  each  one  a  little.  By 
the  time  the  men  returned  from  the  table 
the  cigarettes  had  burned  themselves  into 
most  dissipated  looking  affairs.  Both 
Lily  Naylor  and  Alice,  as  soon  as  they 
heard  the  men  coming,  grabbed  the  burn- 
254 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

ing  cigarettes  in  their  fingers,  and  if  Ned 
had  not  been  so  absorbed  in  his  own 
misery  he  would  have  seen  the  joke  of  the 
whole  thing  from  the  way  Alice  held  her 
cigarette.  Had  it  been  a  young  snake, 
she  would  not  have  held  it  from  her  with 
more  disgust.  Frederick  Schuyler  and 
Jack  Naylor  were  enjoying  the  awkward 
way  both  the  women  were  trying  to  act, 
as  though  they  were  having  a  good  time 
and  enjoying  themselves. 

As  it  had  not  been  a  particularly  cheer- 
ful evening,  Ned  and  Alice  left  early. 
On  the  way  home  there  was  a  most  op- 
pressive silence  between  them.  All  at 
once  Alice  began  to  fear  that  she  had  made 
a  mistake,  that  she  had  gone  too  far,  and 
that  Ned  would  never  forgive  her.  It 
seemed  to  her  that  she  had  taken  advan- 
tage of  him,  and  now  he  would  indeed 
have  sufficient  cause  to  be  disgusted  with 
her.  Her  heart  was  filled  with  fear  and 
forebodings. 

It  was  a  gloriously  beautiful  night. 
The  moonlight  was  shimmering  on  the 
lake,   and  as   they   entered   the  house   it 

2SS 


W^THE  RUS SELLS  IN  CHICAGO^ 

was  streaming  through  the  library  win- 
dow and  over  a  big  jar  of  white  roses 
that  stood  on  the  library  table.  Alice 
walked  slowly  into  the  room  which  was 
so  quiet  and  restful.  She  felt  very  sad 
and  unhappy,  because  it  seemed  as  though 
all  her  efforts  had  been  in  vain.  As  she 
took  off  the  lace  scarf  that  she  had  thrown 
over  her  head  it  got  caught  in  some  way 
in  the  aigrette  in  her  hair ;  she  tried  to 
unfasten  it,  but  only  twisted  it  up  the 
more;  she  called  to  Ned,  who  was  just 
going  up-stairs,  to  come  in  and  help  her. 
As  he  stood  over  her  in  the  bright  moon- 
light, it  was  nearer  than  he  had  been  to 
her  for  months.  He  stood  in  front  of 
her  trying  to  unloosen  the  bit  of  lace, 
and  as  her  head  was  bowed  the  whole 
sweetness  of  her  being  came  to  him. 
Folding  her  in  his  arms  and  pressing  her 
against  his  heart  in  a  very  passion  of 
hungry  love,  he  bent  down  and  kissed  her 
hair.  He  held  her  close  in  his  arms  for 
some  minutes  in  silence.  Looking  up, 
Alice  said,  "  Ned,  dear,  do  you  really 
love  me,  after  all  ?  "    In  answer  he  gently 

2^6 


W^THE  RUSSELLS  IN  CHICAGO'-^ 

kissed  her,  saying,  "  You  know  I  love 
you."  Then  as  they  sat  in  the  moon- 
light, looking  out  over  the  lake,  Alice  con- 
fessed everything,  and  as  the  moonbeams 
found  them,  they  were  clasped  in  each 
other's  arms,  never  again  to  be  separated 
in  thought,  word,  or  deed  as  long  as  life 
should  last. 

Alice's  last  word  was :  "  Ned,  dear, 
there  is  just  one  thing  more  that  I  want 
to  say.  Bend  over  so  that  I  can  whisper 
it  to  you,  but  it  won't  be  a  secret,  you 
can  tell  every  one.  I  love  Chicago  and 
the  people  here  so  much  that  I  wouldn't 
go  back  East  to  live  for  worlds,  not  even 
if  you  went." 

Throwing  a  kiss  out  toward  the  city, 
she  said :  "  Dear  dirty,  beautiful  Chi- 
cago, splendid  in  your  youthful  strength, 
I  love  you,  and  this  is  home  for  ever !  " 


THE    END. 


257 


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